Judge Orders To Stop Deployment Of National Guard By President Trump To Los Angeles

JAKARTA - Federal Justices in California on Wednesday ordered a halt to the deployment of National Guard troops by President Donald Trump to Los Angeles, ordering that the troops be returned to the control of the state governor, who is from the Democratic Party, arguing that the Republican president has exceeded his authority.

The ruling by San Francisco-based US District Judge Charles Breyer is the latest legal setback for President Trump in his bid to deploy National Guard troops to Democrat-controlled cities, the extraordinary use of the military for domestic purposes. The US Supreme Court was eventually able to decide on the matter.

The judge found that President Trump exceeded his authority by taking control of the California National Guard unit and sending them to Los Angeles and elsewhere in response to protests against federal immigration authorities.

Judge Breyer said there was no evidence to support the government's claim that the protests constituted an uprising against the government that legally justifies troop shipments.

He also rejected the government's claim that the court did not have the authority to review the president's decision to take over the state's National Guard unit during an emergency, saying this was an overly broad view of the president's authority.

"The founders designed our government as a system of checks and balances. However, the defendants made it clear that the only checks they wanted were blank checks," Judge Breyer said, referring to President Trump's administration.

The judge's ruling comes in a lawsuit filed by California Governor Gavin Newsom, a leading critic of Trump, who asked the court to block an August order by the government taking control of 300 California National Guard troops until February 2, 2026.

It is known that the National Guard Unit is controlled by the state, but can be called to serve under a certain federal government.

Separately, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement issued after the judge's ruling that President Trump has the legal authority to deploy troops in response to "violent riots" and that the government will eventually win this issue.

Meanwhile, the Governor of Newsom said in a statement he hoped the troops could be returned to state control after President Trump deployed them against their own communities and diverted them from an important public safety mission.

President Trump said deployment of troops in Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, DC, Memphis, Portland, and Oregon was needed to fight crime and protect property and federal personnel from protesters.

Leaders in the region said the deployment was unnecessary, judging President Trump to overestimate incidents of isolated violence at largely peaceful protests to justify troop deliveries.

The judges who oversaw the lawsuit filed by the cities opposing the deployment consistently ruled that the government had exceeded its authority and found no evidence to support troop claims needed to protect federal property from protesters.

President Trump began deploying troops in June, amid protests against his hardline immigration policies, including efforts to increase deportation of people living in the United States without valid permits.

He also deployed troops to Washington and took control of the local police in response to what he called rampant crime - although local crime statistics suggest otherwise - using his unique authority as president over the US capital.

A federal appeals court last week suspended a judge's order to end the deployment of troops in Washington.

The government filed an appeal against a judge's ruling in November that declared Trump unlawfully ordered National Guard troops to Portland and had asked the Supreme Court to cancel a judge's order blocking the deployment of troops to the Chicago area.