US judge says Trump must end National Guard deployment in Los Angeles

A federal judge in California today (10 December) ordered an end to Donald Trump's deployment of National Guard troops to Los Angeles and directed that they be returned to the control of the state's Democratic governor, finding that the Republican president had exceeded his authority.

The ruling by San Francisco-based US District Judge Charles Breyer represented the latest legal setback for Trump in his efforts to deploy National Guard troops to Democratic-controlled cities, an extraordinary use of the military for domestic purposes. The US Supreme Court could ultimately decide the issue.

The judge found Trump overstepped his authority by taking control of California National Guard units and sending them to Los Angeles and elsewhere in response to protests against federal immigration authorities. Breyer said there was no evidence to support the administration's claim that the protests were a rebellion against the government that legally justified sending in troops.

Breyer also rejected the administration's claim that courts have no power to review a president's decision to take control of state National Guard units during an emergency, saying this was an overly expansive view of presidential authority.

"The founders designed our government to be a system of checks and balances. Defendants, however, make clear that the only check they want is a blank one," Breyer said, referring to the Trump administration.

The judge's ruling came in a lawsuit filed by California Governor Gavin Newsom, a prominent critic of Trump, that asked the court to block an August order by the administration taking federal control of 300 California National Guard troops through 2 February 2026.

National Guard units are controlled by states but can be called into federal service under certain circumstances.

White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement issued after the judge's ruling that Trump has lawful authority to deploy troops in response to "violent riots" and that the administration would ultimately prevail on the issue.

Newsom said in a statement that he looks forward to the troops being returned to state control after Trump deployed them against their own communities and diverted them from essential public safety missions.

Trump has said troop deployments in Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, DC, Memphis and Portland, Oregon are necessary to fight crime and protect federal property and personnel from protesters.

Local leaders in those cities have said the deployments are unnecessary. They have accused Trump of exaggerating isolated episodes of violence at mostly peaceful protests to justify sending in troops.

Judges overseeing lawsuits filed by those cities challenging the deployments have consistently ruled that the administration overstepped its authority and found that there is no evidence to support claims that troops are necessary to protect federal property from protesters.

Trump started deploying troops in June amid protests against his hardline immigration policies including efforts to ramp up deportations of people living in the United States without legal authorization. He also deployed troops to Washington and took control of local police in response to what he said was rampant crime - though local crime statistics indicated otherwise - using his unique authority as president over the US capital.

Military officials have been winding down and scaling back the deployments in recent months as litigation has left them in limbo.

A federal appeals court last week paused a judge's order that would have ended the deployment in Washington. The administration is appealing a judge's ruling in November that found Trump unlawfully ordered National Guard troops to Portland and has asked the Supreme Court to overturn a judge's order blocking the deployment of troops to the Chicago area.

A state judge in Tennessee in November temporarily blocked the National Guard deployment to Memphis in a ruling against Republican Governor Bill Lee, who consented to the deployment. The state is appealing the decision.