Trump’s National Guard Deployment in LA Cost Taxpayers Nearly $120M
Donald Trump’s decision to deploy the National Guard in Los Angeles during protests over immigration raids cost taxpayers nearly $120 million, the California governor’s office announced Thursday.
The former president sent 2,000 National Guard troops to the city in June amid clashes between federal immigration agents and protesters. This week, a judge ruled that using the military to support immigration enforcement operations violated federal law.
In total, more than 4,200 National Guard soldiers and 700 marines were deployed in the region. While only a small number assisted with the raids, costs soared: $71 million for food and necessities, $37 million in pay, and $3.5 million for travel, Gavin Newsom’s office said in a statement.
About 300 troops remain stationed in the city.
Newsom called the move “waste, fraud and abuse”, criticizing its heavy toll on taxpayers.
“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,” the governor said.
He opposed the deployment from the start and filed a lawsuit in June, calling it unprecedented, illegal, and an unmistakable step toward authoritarianism. Meanwhile, Trump moved to send the National Guard into other Democratic-led cities across the U.S.
On Tuesday, Judge Charles Breyer ruled the deployment illegal, stating the president’s threats to deploy troops elsewhere amounted to creating “a national police force with the president as its chief.”
“Defendants instigated a months-long deployment of the National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles for the purpose of establishing a military presence there and enforcing federal law. Such conduct is a serious violation of the Posse Comitatus Act,” Breyer wrote in his judgment.
Newsom’s office filed a public records request to determine the costs of federalizing the Guard and activating Marines. The federal government did not respond, but the state’s National Guard provided calculations to the governor.
The office warned of real financial and societal costs, citing the strain on soldiers — including a rushed deployment that forced troops to sleep on floors and use facilities without working plumbing.
In recent weeks, Trump has deployed the National Guard to Washington, D.C., and threatened more deployments in Chicago, New York, and other cities.
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