National Guard officers deployed

The governor's office explained that President Trump had bypassed the state's authority by invoking a rarely used provision to deploy California's National Guard unit.

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Under normal circumstances, its deployment needs to be approved by the state's governor but the President retains the power to activate them - if specific crisis conditions are met.

Mr Trump claimed in a post on his Truth Social platform early on Sunday morning local time that the National Guard soldiers were already doing a “great job”. But local officials indicated that he had pre-empted their actual deployment in LA.

Mayor Bass said on X shortly after Republican Mr Trump's post: “Just to be clear, the National Guard has not been deployed in the City of Los Angeles.”