A federal court has ruled against former President Donald Trump’s deployment of the U.S. military in Los Angeles, siding with California Governor Gavin Newsom’s challenge to the use of the National Guard for domestic law enforcement purposes.
The ruling blocks Trump’s efforts to use military personnel as a domestic police force in California. The court ordered that federal authorities are “enjoined from deploying, ordering, instructing, training, or using the National Guard currently deployed in California, and any military troops heretofore deployed in California, to execute the laws, including but not limited to engaging in arrests, apprehensions, searches, seizures, security patrols, traffic control, crowd control, riot control, evidence collection, interrogation, or acting as informants.”
Governor Newsom commented on the decision: “Today, the court sided with democracy and the Constitution. No president is a king — not even Trump — and no president can trample a state’s power to protect its people. As the court today ruled, Trump is breaking the law by ‘creating a national police force with the President as its chief.’ That’s exactly what we’ve been warning about for months. There is no rampant lawlessness in California, and in fact, crime rates are higher in Republican-led states. Trump’s attempt to use federal troops as his personal police force is illegal, authoritarian, and must be stopped in every courtroom across this country.”
The legal dispute began after President Trump expanded military operations within Los Angeles on June 10th by ordering over 4,000 California National Guard members and U.S. Marines into roles beyond guarding federal property. In response to these actions—which included orders for servicemembers to participate directly in civilian law enforcement—Governor Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta filed an emergency request seeking judicial intervention.
According to estimates from the California National Guard referenced by state officials at that time—members pulled away from essential civilian duties included medical professionals and first responders; service workers; building trades contractors; law enforcement personnel; corrections officers; civil service employees; technology specialists; educators; teachers; and agricultural workers.
Ordinarily under state command nearly 450 CalGuard servicemembers operate throughout California supporting counterdrug efforts at ports of entry and targeting transnational criminal organizations. The shift of resources toward militarizing Los Angeles was described by officials as undermining public safety across other regions.
Several retired senior military leaders—including four-star admirals and generals as well as former secretaries of both Army and Navy—submitted an amicus brief outlining risks associated with such deployments. Multiple veterans’ groups also voiced opposition to what they described as an unlawful militarization of state forces.
