Federal Judge Orders Trump to End National Guard Deployment in Los Angeles: A Constitutional Standoff

A federal judge issued an order on Wednesday requiring President Donald Trump's administration to cease the deployment of National Guard soldiers in Los Angeles, following months of troop presence in various US cities.

This judicial decision represents another legal obstacle to Trump's initiatives to introduce military forces into Democratic-governed areas, which he asserts are descending into chaos, despite evidence to the contrary.

Los Angeles became the inaugural city to experience troops on its streets in June when Trump bypassed Democratic leadership and commanded 4,000 state National Guard reservists to suppress demonstrations against immigration enforcement actions.

Local officials maintained that these relatively minor protests, which affected only limited areas of America's second-largest city, could be adequately managed by municipal, county, and state law enforcement agencies. They accused the president of authoritarian excess.

Although many troops have since been withdrawn, the US military reports that 100 Guard personnel remain stationed "to protect federal property and federal personnel as they enforce federal law."

Senior US District Judge Charles Breyer ruled on Wednesday that control of the federalized National Guard troops must be returned to California Governor Gavin Newsom.

Newsom, a frequent critic of the president who is widely anticipated to pursue a presidential bid in 2028, expressed approval of the judge's ruling.

"Today's ruling is abundantly clear -- the federalization of the National Guard in California is illegal and must end," he declared.

"The president deployed these brave men and women against their own communities, removing them from essential public safety operations.

We look forward to all National Guard service members being returned to state service."

Department of Justice attorneys had contended that federalized troops would remain under presidential command for as long as the president desired.

Judge Breyer's ruling rejected this argument.

That approach "would permit a president to create a perpetual police force comprised of state troops, so long as they were first federalized lawfully," he wrote.

"Defendants' argument for a president to hold unchecked power to control state troops would wholly upend the federalism that is at the heart of our system of government."

The order was temporarily suspended until Monday to allow the government opportunity to appeal.