President Trump doubled down Tuesday on his decision to deploy U.S. Marines and the California National Guard to Los Angeles to quell the anti-ICE riots, saying the destruction would have been far worse if he had not done that.

“If I didn’t ‘send in the troops’ to Los Angeles the last three nights that once beautiful and great city would be burning to the ground right now, much like 25,000 houses burned to the ground in L.A. do to an incompetent Governor and Mayor,” the president posted on social media.

Tensions continued to escalate for a fourth day Monday night in Los Angeles after protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement gripped the city, with demonstrators clashing with law enforcement, vandalizing buildings and setting vehicles ablaze downtown.

Mr. Trump deployed 4,000 California National Guardsmen and 700 Marines to the city.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, both Democrats, have insisted the military presence is unnecessary and only inflames tensions.

Mr. Newsom and California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit Monday against the Trump administration, saying federal officials unlawfully “trampled over” California’s sovereignty when they federalized the state’s National Guard.

Mr. Trump hit back at Mr. Newsom and Ms. Bass, saying the permitting process to rebuild homes following the massive wildfires in January was completely bungled.

On Sunday, Mr. Newsom signed two executive orders aimed at speeding up the rebuilding process amid complaints from residents that it was moving too slowly.

In Pacific Palisades, which was devastated by the fires, more than 200 property owners have submitted applications to rebuild or repair their homes, but only 11% were approved, according to data compiled by The Los Angeles Times.

“Incidentally, the much more difficult time consuming and stringent Federal Permitting process is virtually complete on these houses while the easy and simple city and state permits are disastrously bungled up and way behind schedule! They are a total mess and will be for a long time. People want to rebuild their houses. Call your incompetent governor and mayor, the federal permitting is DONE!!” Mr. Trump posted.

• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.