President Trump on Tuesday said he would “certainly” invoke the Insurrection Act to respond to the demonstrations on the streets of Los Angeles over his immigration policies, if he deemed the move necessary.
“If there’s an insurrection, I would certainly invoke it. We’ll see,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “But I can tell you, last night was terrible. The night before that was terrible.”
When asked what would lead him to decide an insurrection is taking place, Trump said that in certain areas of Los Angeles last night “you could have called it an insurrection. It was terrible.”
The president had previously suggested he’s open to invoking the Insurrection Act, which is a power used sparingly in U.S. history that allows for the use of the military to quell a rebellion. He made the decision to send in the National Guard to Los Angeles without a request from Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) in an unprecedented move to respond to protests of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement raids.
He told reporters on Sunday, “depends on whether or not there’s an insurrection” when asked about invoking the law.
“We’re just going to see what happens. If we think there’s a serious insurrection … we’re going to have law and order,” he said.
When asked what the bar would be for sending in the Marines, Trump said, “The bar is what I think it is.” By Monday, 700 active-duty Marines were sent to Los Angeles.
As of Monday, a total of 4,000 California National Guard troops were sent in.
The Pentagon estimates the deployment of National Guard troops and Marines to the California city will cost around $134 million, the Defense Department’s acting comptroller said Tuesday.
The president said on Tuesday he would keep the National Guard in place “until there is no danger” and he also insisted that some demonstrators in Los Angeles are paid insurrectionists.
Trump had flirted with the idea of using the Insurrection Act during the 2020 protests over police brutality following the killing of George Floyd in his first term in office. And, he referenced the possibility of doing so during the campaign in the event of protests against his victory, saying he would do so in Democrat-run states.