Trump shamelessly uses U.S. military to do his bidding in Los Angeles

These protesters passionately disagree with Trump’s ruthless round-up, detention, and deportation of hundreds of immigrants to a prison in El Salvador. This is the heart of the matter. Trump doesn’t like Gavin Newsom. He doesn’t like California, the most Democratic state in the country. And he doesn’t like anyone who stands up to him.

U.S. President Donald Trump deployed 700 Marines to Los Angeles in reaction to protests against his immigration raids. That is in addition to his federalizing thousands of California National Guard members for the same purpose. Photograph courtesy of Flickr/The White House.

Opinion

BY MICHAEL HARRIS

June 16, 2025

HALIFAX—Downtown Los Angeles is a long way from the halls of Montezuma or the shores of Tripoli, fabled foreign battlegrounds that figure prominently in the Marines’ Hymn.

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