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LA Showdown: Trump’s Federal Power Play and the Looming Election Shadow
Donald Trump’s message to Los Angeles residents is one delivered through the unprecedented act of overriding the California governor’s authority and deploying National Guard troops to the city. The unrest in Los Angeles has indeed been volatile; protests against federal agents apprehending undocumented immigrants have seen rocks and Molotov cocktails hurled, masked protesters attacking federal buildings, and cars set ablaze. Yet, for all the dramatic visuals, a staggering 99% of the city remains business as usual, and the local police force is demonstrably more than capable of handling a few hundred protesters. Trump’s decision to dispatch soldiers against the explicit wishes of the state’s governor marks a deeply concerning escalation, representing the first time a president has done so since Lyndon B. Johnson deployed troops to Selma, Alabama, in 1965.
The Wall Street Journal suggests that while the deployment of the National Guard might not have been strictly necessary, it is highly probable that the White House had the little-used legal provision to send them in teed up, ready for activation. Furthermore, it is plausible that Trump had been itching to use this authority, knowing full well that Americans generally abhor public disorder. However, Governor Gavin Newsom, the Journal implies, should have foreseen this…
