Both cases are moving through appeals courts.
Republicans and Democrats are telling starkly different stories and military experts are concerned. The Trump administration insists the deployments are about public safety and the rule of law. On Monday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said ICE facilities in Portland had been “under siege by these anarchists” for months and accused protesters of inciting violence.
Democrats, including California Attorney General Rob Bonta, see Trump’s moves as a precursor to potentially more frightening uses of the military.
“Trump does think that the military is his personal police force and his personal army. And he wants that force behind his policy decisions,” Bonta said. “He wants to weaponize the military against blue states and blue cities…. he’s also, I think, socializing the idea of the military in American cities.”
Newsom and other Democrats have warned that Trump may use the troops to intimidate voters in blue states and to suppress the vote in November’s special election and beyond.
Bonta, though, said that the U.S. “is a nation that will never accept military rule.” And some former military leaders are speaking out. Retired Gen. Randy Manner, who will join Political Breakdown on Thursday, has warned that the president’s actions risk driving a wedge between the armed forces and the public.