Trump's LA national guard deployment cost taxpayers $120m, Newsom says [View all]

Source: The Guardian

Thu 4 Sep 2025 21.41 EDT
Last modified on Thu 4 Sep 2025 21.42 EDT


Donald Trump’s deployment of the national guard in Los Angeles in response to protests in the city over immigration raids cost taxpayers nearly $120m, the California governor’s office said on Thursday.

The US president sent 2,000 national guard troops into the city in June amid clashes between federal immigration agents and protesters. This week a judge ruled that dispatching the military to accompany authorities on immigration enforcement operations violated federal law.

More than 4,200 national guard soldiers and 700 marines were deployed in the region. Although relatively few assisted with raids, the costs mounted – $71m for food and necessities, $37m in pay and $3.5m in travel, among other expenses, Gavin Newsom’s office said in a statement. About 300 troops remain in the city.

Newsom described the move as “waste, fraud and abuse”.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/04/trump-national-guard-deployment-los-angeles