BREAKING: Trump sends 700 Marines to L.A. - Here's Why it's so Dangerous
Why Trump’s latest move is a five-alarm fire for democracy
What just happened?
With protests still raging over aggressive ICE raids, President Trump has ordered about 700 Marines from the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines at Twentynine Palms into Los Angeles. They’re expected to arrive within 24 hours to “support” the 300 National Guard troops he already federalized over the weekend, despite open opposition and a pending lawsuit from Governor Gavin Newsom.
Why this is dangerous
Troops trained for war, not crowd control. Marines are combat forces, not community-policing units. History shows that when soldiers without riot-control training face civilians, escalation, sometimes lethal, is almost inevitable.
Erosion of federal–state balance. Under the Constitution, policing is primarily a state power. Deploying federal troops without the governor’s consent breaks a 233-year-old norm and blurs the guardrails that keep presidents from using the military as a domestic police force.
Legal gray zone for the troops themselves. The Posse Comitatus Act bars federal forces from enforcing civilian law unless the president invokes the Insurrection Act. Trump hasn’t invoked it, meaning commanders and enlisted Marines now face impossible “follow orders vs. break the law” dilemmas.
A precedent ripe for abuse. If a president can sidestep a governor once, what stops future presidents from sending troops anywhere a protest embarrasses them? Today it’s L.A.; tomorrow it could be any city that dares to dissent.
trumo marines
Every modern deployment without a governor’s blessing was aimed at protecting civil-rights protesters from violent suppression—never at suppressing protest itself. Trump’s move flips that script: he is sending combat troops to silence protest, not to safeguard it.
The Insurrection Act vs. Today’s Reality
Insurrection Act (1807): Lets a president deploy troops domestically when rebellion obstructs federal law or civil rights. Last used legally in 1992, with the governor’s consent.
Today: Trump has not invoked the Act; instead he is using a murky “prepared-to-deploy” Title 10 order. That means the legal footing is shakier than at any point since Reconstruction.
What happens next?
Courts: Newsom’s lawsuit could land in federal court within days, testing the limits of presidential power over state National Guard units and active-duty forces alike.
Congress: House Democrats are already drafting a resolution demanding the administration turn over all legal memos justifying the deployment. Expect committee subpoenas if those memos are withheld.
On the ground: Civil-rights groups warn that even a single clash could spiral. Remember: Kent State started with Guard troops who fired after claiming they felt threatened.
Every time presidents have overridden governors to send in troops, it was to defend constitutional rights, not to smother them. By dispatching Marines against largely peaceful immigration-rights protests, Trump is pushing America into uncharted—and perilous—territory. If history is a guide, the real danger isn’t just tonight on the streets of Los Angeles; it’s the new precedent that a president can deploy the U.S. military whenever dissent becomes politically inconvenient.
Share this far and wide, because if we shrug, tomorrow’s protests might arrive with Humvees instead of hashtags.
You just know that DUI DOD boy, the white supremacist cos playing at being Secretary of Defense was just itching to do this!!!
Again why is this allowed! No congressional approval! At the moment it’s a peaceful protest and trump is instigating a riot!