Trump to Send 2,000 National Guard Troops to Calm LA Unrest

United States (US) President Donald Trump will send the National Guard to restore order in Los Angeles in response to growing unrest over a wave of immigration raids.

- BLOOMBERG

At least 2,000 National Guard troops will be deployed "for 60 days or at the discretion of the Secretary of Defense," the White House said in a statement late Saturday. Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defense, said on X that Marines will also be mobilized "if violence continues."

The deployment plans come as demonstrations intensified for a second day after US Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions across the city. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said it arrested 2,000 undocumented people a day this week nationwide, including 118 individuals in the Los Angeles area.

Authorities are mobilizing troops to "address violence and destruction occurring near raid locations where demonstrators are gathering," border czar Tom Homan said in an interview with Fox News' The Big Weekend Show.

More than 1,000 protesters surrounded a federal building in downtown LA on Friday, and additional demonstrations broke out Saturday in Paramount, just south of the city. Local media reported tear gas and flash-bang grenades deployed to disperse the crowds.