President Donald Trump’s war on dissent is ramping up.
As protests continue to unfold in Los Angeles over workplace raids conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the president on Tuesday threatened any protesters planning to attend Saturday’s military parade in Washington, DC with “very big force.” (Saturday is also Trump’s 79th birthday.)
“We’re celebrating big on Saturday, and if there’s any protester that wants to come out, they will be met with very big force,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. He claimed to be unaware of any planned demonstrations, but characterized would-be protesters as “people that hate our country.” (Nationwide “No Kings” protests are slated to unfold on Saturday, to protest Trump’s constitutional overreach and corruption.)
Trump also said the National Guard will remain in California “until there’s no danger”—or, in other words, indefinitely, even though local leaders and civil rights groups have overwhelmingly condemned the military presence as an abuse of power. Trump proceeded to baselessly describe the protesters as “paid,” claiming that if he had not sent in federal reinforcements, “that the city right now would be on fire.” Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) and Democratic Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a federal lawsuit on Monday contesting the deployment of the troops as “unlawful [and] unprecedented.”
Also on Tuesday, Bryn Woollacott MacDonnell, special assistant to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, told a House subcommittee that the deployment of troops to LA will cost at least $134 million—mostly for travel, housing, and food—and last for at least 60 days. “We stated very publicly that it’s 60 days because we want to ensure that those rioters, looters, and thugs on the other side assaulting our police officers know that we’re not going anywhere,” Hegseth told the subcommittee.
Newsom responded with a social media post saying that the $134 million “should be going to LA’s fire recovery” and is “shameful,” while Bass called it “despicable” and “an absolutely shameful use of taxpayer dollars that could be used to actually HELP people.” On top of that cost, an Army spokesperson previously said the Saturday military parade could cost an estimated $25 to $45 million.
Trump and his Republican allies have a long record of seeking to criminalize protest. As I reported during last year’s presidential race, for example, Trump promised to deport protesters against the war in Gaza if he returned to office. Several Republican lawmakers filed bills seeking to make it happen. So far, the administration has not been successful in deporting student protesters, despite its best efforts. But if the last few days are any indication, they are hoping for a different outcome in LA; indeed, they have already been successful, given that four people arrested by ICE on Friday have been deported, according to officials in Mexico.
