California Governor Gavin Newsom has condemned Donald Trump’s decision to send thousands of National Guard troops into Los Angeles during immigration protests, revealing that the deployment cost taxpayers nearly $120 million. A federal judge has since ruled the move unlawful.
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Deployment Costs Soar
Trump ordered 2,000 National Guard troops into Los Angeles in June amid escalating clashes between protesters and immigration agents. In total, more than 4,200 Guard members and 700 Marines were deployed. Newsom’s office said expenses ballooned to $71m for food and necessities, $37m in pay, and $3.5m in travel, with other costs pushing the total close to $120m. About 300 troops remain in the city.
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Governor Condemns ‘Political Theater’
Newsom described the deployment as “waste, fraud, and abuse,” warning of the toll on soldiers and families. “Let us not forget what this political theater is costing us all – millions of taxpayer dollars down the drain, an atrophy to the readiness of guardsmembers across the nation and unnecessary hardships to the families supporting those troops,” he said.
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Legal Challenge and Court Ruling
From the outset, Newsom opposed the deployment and filed a lawsuit in June, calling it unprecedented and authoritarian. On Tuesday, Judge Charles Breyer ruled the move violated the federal Posse Comitatus Act, which bars the military from domestic law enforcement. Breyer wrote that Trump’s orders amounted to creating “a national police force with the president as its chief.”
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Federal Records Stonewalled
According to Newsom’s office, officials submitted a public records request to determine the costs of federalizing the Guard and activating Marines. The federal government did not respond, but California’s National Guard provided estimates used in the governor’s calculations.
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Human Costs of Deployment
The governor’s statement highlighted the personal strain on troops, citing a rushed process that forced soldiers to sleep on floors and use facilities without working plumbing. Officials said these conditions underscored the “real financial and societal costs” of Trump’s decision.
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Pattern of Federal Deployments
The Los Angeles operation followed a broader trend. In recent weeks, Trump has sent National Guard troops to Washington, DC and threatened further deployments to Democratic-led cities, including Chicago and New York. Critics argue these moves amount to using the military as a political weapon against local leaders who resist his immigration agenda.