Week 31 — The Return – The Weekly List

This week the country finds itself on the brink of the biggest crisis of Trump’s presidency, as he deployed both the California National Guard and U.S. Marines to the city of Los Angeles, amid anti-ICE protests. As protests also start to pop up in other cities across the country, the question becomes whether Trump will take things one step further and invoke the Insurrection Act or declare Martial Law. The protests come after federal immigration enforcement ramped up mass arrests, a week after White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller excoriated senior ICE officials (see Week 30), and demanded a sharp increase in arrests and new tactics.

It was the perfect excuse for Trump to manufacture a crisis (I wrote more about it here) to distract from what was an ugly break up with Musk; his failures on foreign policy; the lack of a single signed deal 63 days into his 90 day tariff pause; and most importantly, his failure on the main issue he ran on both times, immigration! Ironically, the week started with Trump losing or backtracking on a series of immigration cases, including returning Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the U.S. (read more here). This crisis is the shiny coin Trump desperately needed, and could only have dreamed of.

There are also important stories this week about the continuing incompetence and outright negligence of federal agencies. HHS Sec. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. disbanded a panel of experts on immunizations, the EPA is gutted, and Trump said an unprepared FEMA would be shuttered after hurricane season, all while his regime tries to rehire federal workers who had been haphazardly cut by DOGE. With Musk out of the government, it is also unclear what role, if any, DOGE will play going forward. As we end this week, the country stares into a perilous abyss on so many fronts.

On Wednesday, Trump signed an executive order demanding a probe into a so-called cover up of Biden’s cognitive decline, claiming without evidence that Biden was incapable of making presidential decisions, an unprecedented request.
Trump shared a fringe conspiracy theory about Biden being killed in 2020 in Week 30. Trump’s theory could be a basis for undermining thousands of Biden’s executive orders and pardons. Trump continued to criticize Biden’s use of an autopen for his signature.
On Friday, the federal court of appeals ruled 2–1, overturning a lower court ruling forcing the White House to give the Associated Press full access to covering Trump, and said the regime can limit journalists based on their viewpoints. Two of the judges were appointed by Trump.
NYT reported legal scholars say Trump declared dubious emergencies as rationale for summoning the National Guard to Los Angeles over the objections of the governor, sending migrants to El Salvador without due process, and imposing global tariffs.
Scholars say his actions are not authorized by the statutes he is citing; rather he is using events and circumstances that are considered routine as justification to invoke so-called emergencies, and amass power. Lower courts have rejected Trump asserting emergency powers.
On Wednesday, Musk continued to attack Trump’s tax bill in a series of tweets on X, posting no one “should be able to stomach it,” and telling his 200 million followers to call members of Congress, and tell them to “KILL the BILL.”
On Thursday, while hosting German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in the Oval Office, Trump attacked Musk, saying, “I’m very disappointed in Elon. I’ve helped Elon a lot,” and “I think he misses the place. He’s not the first…It’s sort of Trump derangement syndrome, I guess they call it.”
Musk responded on X, in a series of tweets, saying, “Without me, Trump would have lost the election,” adding, “Such ingratitude.” Musk also dubbed Trump’s bill the “Big Ugly Spending Bill.”
Shortly after, Trump threatened Musk on Truth Social, posting, “The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts. I was always surprised that Biden didn’t do it!”
Musk responded that SpaceX “will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately.” NYT reported that NASA would struggle without SpaceX, which provides its only reliable ride to the International Space Station, and would need to readjust all its space station plans.
Shares of Tesla fell by as much as 16% on the day, the biggest fall since the start of the pandemic in March 2020. Shares of competitors to Musk’s SpaceX, which is private, also rose, with AST Spacemobile up by as much as 5.8% and EchoStar up by more than 15%.
Shortly after, Musk posted on X, “Time to drop the really big bomb,” claiming Trump “is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public,” adding, “Have a nice day, DJT!” Musk also reposted a comment calling for Trump’s impeachment.
WAPO reported White House security staff had warned Trump that allowing Musk’s Starlink satellite connections inside the White House was a security risk. The Starlink system is capable of bypassing control meant to stop leaks and hacking.
Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, a longtime critic of Musk, said he told Trump to cancel contracts, and “initiate a formal investigation” of Musk’s immigration status, saying, “I am of the strong belief that he is an illegal alien, and he should be deported from the country immediately.’
On Friday, Trump told ABC News in a telephone interview shortly before 7 a.m. that Musk “has lost his mind,” adding that he was “not particularly” interested in talking to him right now. Trump claimed that Musk wanted to speak to him, but he is not ready.
Shortly after, the White House said Trump would sell his red Tesla, which he bought in March to demonstrate his support for Musk.
Later Friday, aboard Air Force One, asked by reporters if he would cancel contracts with Musk’s companies, Trump said he was going to “take a look at everything,” but claimed he was so busy on other things, saying, “I’m not thinking about Elon Musk. I just wish him well.”
On Saturday, Trump told NBC News in a telephone interview that he does not plan to speak to Musk in the near future, and he has “no reason to” nor any desire to repair the relationship. Trump called Musk “very disrespectful” and “disrespectful to the office of the President.”
Trump also threatened that there would be “serious consequences” if Musk funds Democratic candidates to take on Republicans who back his tax bill, adding, “If he does, he’ll have to pay the consequences for that,” but did not specify what the consequences would be.
ABC News reported some of the remaining DOGE staffers are concerned about being targeted by the Trump regime with political retribution, and also that their ties to DOGE could be a professional liability.
NYT reported DOGE agents are embedded in several federal agencies, taking senior roles in agencies, which at times allows them to bypass even the heads of those agencies. DOGE agents have tried to gain entry to more than 80 data systems at at least a dozen agencies.
DOGE’s role and legality remains in question. Musk had tweeted that Trump’s tax bill “more than defeats all the cost savings achieved by the @DOGE team at great personal cost and risk.” While Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia plans to remain, Steve Davis who ran much of DOGE left.
Some DOGE agents have called the White House to ask if their jobs are secure. Many had planned to stay for short stints, taking leaves from their careers at tech companies. A former DOGE employee said recent events could quicken their departures and deter future hires.
WAPO reported Trump cabinet officials and senior staffers are reclaiming power from DOGE agents, as Musk and some of his top lieutenants, including Davis, James Burnham, DOGE’s general counsel, and DOGE adviser Katie Miller, have also departed.
On Wednesday, the Department of Education said it had notified Columbia University that it has not met standards of accreditation, citing the school violated federal anti-discrimination laws by its alleged failure to protect Jewish students on its campus.
On Wednesday, Trump signed an executive order blocking international students from entering the U.S. to attend Harvard, claiming without evidence that it would jeopardize national security to have the school host them on campus.
On Thursday, a federal judge granted Harvard a temporary reprieve from Trump’s foreign student ban, saying Harvard would face “immediate and irreparable injury” if the proclamation went into effect.
On Friday, a group of 18 prestigious universities, including Princeton, MIT, Caltech, and Johns Hopkins, asked a federal judge for permission to file legal arguments in support of Harvard, in the case involving more than $2 billion in frozen grant money.
NYT reported in an unusual step, Secretary of State Marco Rubio signed off on a recommendation for the Treasury Department to investigate whether Harvard violated federal sanctions by collaborating on a conference in China that may have included blacklisted individuals.
On Thursday, the New York State Department of Education rejected the Education Department’s demand that the state reverse its two-year ban on Massapequa’s Native American mascot, questioning the regime’s interpretation of civil rights law.
On Friday, Trump asked the Supreme Court to lift a lower court order, and allow the regime to continue dismantling the Education Department, claiming, “The Constitution vests the executive branch, not district courts” with authority to make decisions on staffing.
On Friday, WAPO reported the Trump regime is scrambling to rehire federal employees across agencies after haphazard cuts by Musk’s DOGE wiped out entire offices, and left services imperiled. Employees say the firings were not well thought out, and it was just for show.
Agencies trying to hire back fired staffers include the Agriculture Department, the Food and Drug Administration, the Internal Revenue Service, USAID, the State Department, the National Weather Service, the Social Security Administration, and Housing and Urban Development.
On Friday, a bill was introduced in the House of Representatives, the Weather Workforce Improvement Act, which would designate certain positions in the NWS as critical to public safety, making them harder to fire.
On Tuesday, Trump told reporters that he planned to “wean” states off Federal Emergency Management Agency assistance after this year’s hurricane season and send it to the states, saying, “We’re moving it back to the states, so the governors can handle. That’s why they’re governors.”
On Friday, the Supreme Court gave DOGE access to sensitive Social Security Data, putting a lower court’s block on hold, with the three liberal justices dissenting, saying the court was “creating grave privacy risks for millions of Americans.”
On Monday, a federal judge granted an injunction blocking DOGE from accessing databases at the Office of Personnel Management, saying DOGE’s access violated the Administrative Procedures Act, and should never had been granted.
WSJ reported Trump will attend a performance of “Les Misérables” at the Kennedy Center, with Gold tier donation levels of $2 million, as subscription revenue is down 82%. The House has proposed $257 million in funding, more than five times the amount in previous years.
On Wednesday, Trump reinstated and expanded his travel ban, restricting entry into the U.S. for citizens of 19 countries, including Afghanistan, Haiti, Iran, and Venezuela. In announcing the ban, Trump mentioned the attack made by an Egyptian immigrant in Boulder, but did not include Egypt in the ban.
Trump’s order would ban citizens from 12 countries from traveling to the U.S., while citizens of the other seven would face restrictions on specific visas, including those for students, business, and tourism. The order is expected to face legal challenges, as it did in the first regime.
ICE said it arrested 2,200, a single day record, amid pressure from the White House. ICE texted some migrants here under the Alternative to Detention program, under which ICE monitors migrants with ankle bracelets, to come for appointments, where they were arrested.
On Wednesday, a federal judge barred the Trump regime from expediting the deportation of the wife and children of the Boulder attack suspect, saying doing so “without process” could cause irreparable harm. A hearing date was set.
On Wednesday, Judge James Boasberg ordered the Trump regime to take steps to give the nearly 140 Venezuelan immigrants who were deported to El Salvador in March due process by June 11.
On Tuesday, June 10, hours before the deadline, an appeals court paused Boasberg’s order. The three judges on the panel were appointed by Trump, and their administrative stay came less than 5 hours after DOJ filed its request at the DC Circuit.
On Wednesday, the Trump regime returned a Guatemalan man, known as O.C.G., who was wrongly deported to Mexico, marking the first instance of the regime following a court order.
On Wednesday, a popular waitress from Hong Kong, known as ‘Carol’ in her small Missouri town, was released after being jailed for more than a month after an immigration crackdown. She was released under a “temporary safe haven” program, but her lawyer said she is still at risk.
On Thursday, Marcello Gomes Da Silva, the high school junior who was arrested by ICE on the way to volleyball practice in Milford, Massachusetts, was released on a $2,000 bail by an immigration court.
On Thursday, a federal judge blocked ICE from detaining Yunseo Chung, a student at Columbia, and sending her back to South Korea, after she participated in a pro-Palestinian demonstration earlier this year. Her lawyers say she is protected under the First Amendment.
On Friday, the Trump regime brought Kilmar Abrego Garcia back to the U.S., two months after being mistakenly deported. He appeared in a Tennessee courtroom to face a two-count indictment, alleging he transported undocumented migrants within the U.S.
Ben Schrader, the chief of the criminal division in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Nashville, resigned the same week as the grand jury indictment, posting on LinkedIn, “the only job description I’ve ever known is to do the right thing, in the right way, for the right reasons.”
Houston Public Media reported a former Afghan soldier, who aided U.S. military during the war there, and was seeking asylum in the U.S., was arrested at his Houston area home by ICE. His attorney said he and most of his family face deportation.
WSJ reported economists are questioning the quality of U.S. inflation data, after the Bureau of Labor Statistics was forced to use a less accurate method for guessing price changes, given staffing cuts and a hiring freeze limited the number of companies that were surveyed.
The Federal Reserve’s Beige Book data showed the U.S. economy had contracted over the past six weeks as hiring has slowed, with consumers and businesses worried about tariff-related price increases, and businesses expecting to pass along higher costs within three months.
An appeals court ruled that Trump’s tariffs can stay in place for now, ahead of a scheduled hearing on July 31. The plaintiffs, five small businesses, warned keeping the tariffs in place could be a death blow for some companies, even if they ultimately prevailed in court.
ProPublica reported Trump appointed Thomas Fugate, a 22 year-old who graduated college last year and was a former Trump campaign worker, as a DHS official overseeing the government’s main hub for combating violent extremism.
FBI Director Kash Patel fired the agents who ran the field offices in Las Vegas and Richmond, Virginia, and a third top deputy in Norfolk, Va. who had ties to someone that Patel identified in his book as part of the so-called deep state.
On Thursday, a federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump regime’s dismantling of Americorps, done at the behest of DOGE, saying programs funded by the independent agency filled a void in government services in many parts of the country.
Reuters reported pediatric infectious disease expert Dr. Lakshmi Panagiotakopoulos resigned as the co-leader of a CDC group working on COVID-19 vaccine use, saying in an email that she is “no longer able to help the most vulnerable members” of the U.S. population.
AP reported that a federal inquiry found that the Texas hospital that discharged Kyleigh Thurman without ending her nonviable, life-threatening pregnancy violated the law; however, Trump’s revoking Biden-era guidance in Week 29 cast doubt on federal oversight.
WSJ reported that HHS Sec. Robert Kennedy, Jr. hired antivaccine activist David Geier to search official records for proof that federal officials hide evidence that vaccines cause autism. Geier was previously barred from accessing the Vaccine Safety Datalink over misuse.
U.S. measles cases to date quadrupled compared to 2024, and were approaching a 30-year high. So far, 33 states have confirmed cases. Among those infected, 95% are unvaccinated or have a vaccination status which is unknown.
On Monday, Kennedy removed all 17 members of a crucial panel, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which reviews data and makes recommendations to the Centers for Disease Control, a shocking move which could undermine confidence in immunizations.
On Monday, scores of scientists at the NIH publicly criticized Trump’s funding cuts in a letter titled the Bethesda Declaration, challenging policies that “undermine NIH the mission, waste public resources, and harm the health of Americans and people across the globe.”
On Friday, Paul Weiss partner Damian Williams, the former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, resigned in the wake of the firm’s capitulation to Trump, and took a job with Jenner & Block. Williams is the seventh Paul Weiss partner to resign.
On Friday, four leaders of the Proud Boys, Henry Tarrio, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl, and Ethan Nordean, all of whom were charged with seditious conspiracy and other crimes, and later pardoned by Trump, filed a lawsuit seeking $100 million from the government.
Reuters reported that food banks in Ohio are straining to meet residents’ needs as federal funding continues to be slashed by the Trump regime. Some food pantries have a lot less food to hand out, while others will be forced to shutter, leaving a lot more hungry.
WAPO reported an opinion prepared by the Office of Legal Counsel found the Trump can abolish areas protected as national monuments by past presidents, reversing a 1938 legal opinion.
On Friday, CNN reported the Trump regime is targeting California, asking federal agencies to start identifying grants that they can withhold. The regime is considering targeting California universities over alleged antisemitism, as well as targeting flood prevention projects.
WSJ reported that Miller’s castigations of senior ICE officials in Week 30 sparked raids in Los Angeles. Officials were told to “do what you need to do” to make more arrests, saying Trump had promised to arrest millions of immigrants and was not pleased.
Miller told officials to drop the longstanding practice of developing target lists of immigrants suspected of being in the U.S. illegally, and instead target workplaces like Home Depot, where day laborers typically gather for hire, or 7-Eleven convenience stores.
On Friday, amid large-scale ICE raids in Los Angeles, large crowds of protestors gathered near the federal detention center in downtown LA, demanding the release of migrants, with some reported clashes with authorities. LAPD had declared unlawful assembly.
Federal agents detained David Huerta, the president of the Service Employees International Union of California, after knocking him to the ground, lying with his head on the curb. He was hospitalized, but remained in custody.
The LA County Sheriffs Department said it was “not involved in any federal law enforcement operations or actions and responded solely for traffic and crowd control management.” Mayor Karen Bass said the ICE activity was meant to “sow terror” in LA.
The regime’s targeting of workplaces marked a new escalation in its deportation efforts, after being rebuked in Week 30. Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for DHS, said 2,000 immigrants per day were arrested over the last week, but did not specify how many were at workplaces.
On Saturday, protestors and federal agents clashed at a Home Depot in Paramount. Border Patrol personnel showed up in riot gear and gas masks, and deployed tear gas at the protestors. DHS said 44 arrests were made across the city.
The LA County Sheriff’s Department, which was not involved in federal operations, ordered protesters to leave the area, declaring an unlawful assembly. Federal agents said they had apprehended 118 undocumented people during their two days of operation.
Stephen Miller posted on X about the raids during the day, and in the evening posted, “Deport the invaders, or surrender to insurrection. These are the choices,” invoking a term used to describe the Trump supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
The LAPD said eleven people were arrested during protests on Saturday. The New York Police Department said at least 22 protestors were arrested in New York City during protests outside the Manhattan federal courthouse.
Later Saturday, Trump deployed the 2,000 California National Guard members in response to the protests, with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt saying in a statement, “feckless Democrat leaders have completely abdicated their responsibility to protect their citizens.”
Trump’s memo claimed the deployment was necessary to “temporarily protect ICE and other United States Government personnel who are performing federal functions” and added that the deployment will last for at least 60 days.
The memo cited “10 U.S.C. 12406,” a provision of the U.S. Code on Armed Service that allows the federal deployment of National Guard forces if “there is a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States.”
The deployment marked the first time since 1965 that a president activated a state’s National Guard without a request from the governor. The National Guard was last federalized in 1992, when the governor of California asked for help controlling riots related to Rodney King.
Gov. Gavin Newsom said local California authorities did not need help, and that the federal government moving in to “take over the California National Guard” was “purposefully inflammatory” and will “only escalate tensions,” and that the regime wants to create “a spectacle.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted on X that active duty Marines were “on high alert” at Camp Pendleton. The 1878 Posse Comitatus Act strictly limits the deployment of federal troops within U.S. borders. Newsom called the threat to deploy Marines against citizens “deranged.”
At 2:41 a.m. ET, Trump posted on Truth Social, praising the National Guard, although they had not arrived yet, and adding, “These Radical Left protests, by instigators and often paid troublemakers, will NOT BE TOLERATED” and “MASKS WILL NOT BE ALLOWED.”
NYT reported that amid the LA protests, a flood of AI-created fake images and videos, and conspiracy theories that the protests were a planned provocation and not a spontaneous response to the immigration raids, spread online, in an expression of support for Trump’s actions.
One conspiracy that spread on social media was the protests were part of former President Barack Obama’s secret plot to impose socialism. Another was the protests were organized by nonprofit organizations supported by George Soros. Disinformation further stoked tensions.
On Sunday, Sen. Bernie Sanders told CNN’s “State of the Union” that “We have a president who is moving this country rapidly into authoritarianism,” adding, “He does not believe in the rule of law.”
On Sunday, ABC News correspondent Terry Moran was suspended over a post on X, which he later deleted, saying, “[Stephen] Miller is a man who is richly endowed with the capacity for hatred. He’s a world-class hater,” and “Trump is a world-class hater.” Moran was fired on Tuesday.
The Democratic Governors Association condemned Trump’s actions in a statement, calling it “an alarming abuse of power,” adding activating the National Guard “in their own borders without consulting or working with a state’s governor is effective and dangerous.”
Later Sunday, Trump posted on Truth Social that LA “has been invaded and occupied by illegal aliens and criminals,” calling the protests “migrant riots” and said federal agencies were directed to take “all such action necessary” to restore order and deportation operations.
Later Sunday, Newsom posted a letter to Hegseth on X, and wrote, “I have formally requested the Trump Administration rescind their unlawful deployment of troops,” adding, “We didn’t have a problem until Trump got involved,” and “This is a serious breach of state sovereignty.”
Late Sunday, Glendale, a city in Los Angeles County, said it had ended its contract with ICE to hold immigrants at its police department for a fee, citing the contract becoming divisive. Notably, for most of LA, life went on as usual, including the Los Angeles Pride Parade.
Late Sunday, protestors in San Francisco demonstrated in solidarity with immigrant rights protestors in LA. At least 60 were arrested, after what started as peaceful protests led to clashes with San Francisco Police Department officers dressed in riot gear and holding batons.
After midnight, Trump posted on Truth Social, “MASKS WILL NOT BE ALLOWED to be worn at protests. What do these people have to hide, and why???” and later “ARREST THE PEOPLE IN FACE MASKS, NOW!” This came after Republicans defended federal agents wearing masks.
On Monday, California AG Rob Bonta and Gov. Newsom sued the Trump regime, challenging Trump’s order federalizing its National Guard forces.
On Monday, Trump ordered the deployment of 700 Marines and an additional 2,000 National Guard troops to LA, making a total of 4,700 troops. Trump continued to describe the situation as dire, as the number of protestors and incidents decreased dramatically on Monday.
Following news of Marines being deployed, LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said, “arrival of federal military forces in Los Angeles — absent clear coordination — presents a significant logistical and operational challenge for those of us charged with safeguarding this city.”
On Monday, Newsom said he would send 640 California Highway Patrol officers and over 240 officers from neighboring jurisdictions to LA, after Trump sending 4,700 troops, saying, “Chaos is exactly what Trump wanted, and now California is left to clean up the mess.”
On Monday, after his “border czar” Tom Homan had said in the past that he would arrest elected officials who impeded ICE, Trump told reporters that Newsom should be arrested: “I’d do it if I were Tom,” adding, “I think it would be a great thing.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson, when asked at his weekly press conference if Newsom should be arrested, said, “That’s not my lane,” but added, “he ought to be tarred and feathered.”
On Tuesday, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese strongly condemned the shooting of an Australian journalist, Lauren Tomasi, who was hit by a police officer while covering the protests, calling it “horrific” and adding, “We don’t find it acceptable.”
On Tuesday, Trump falsely claimed that if he hadn’t sent in troops, Los Angeles would have “burned to the ground.” Protests were limited to small parts of the city, which spreads over several hundred square miles, with most areas unaffected.
Trump also tried to take credit for the protests being smaller Monday, falsely claiming, “By doing what I did, I stopped the violence in L.A.” LA officials said the protests were already ebbing before Trump’s deployment of National Guards.
Trump also warned about protests at his planned military parade on Saturday, “For those people that want to protest, they’re going to be met with very big force,” adding, “And I haven’t even heard about a protest, but this is people that hate our country.”
Later Tuesday, Trump disparaged LA in a speech at the Army base at Fort Bragg, saying the city has become “a trash heap…under the control of transnational gangs and criminal networks,” adding, “we will liberate Los Angeles and make it free, clean and safe again.”
Trump said he would suppress what he called “paid troublemakers” and agents of a “foreign invasion,” adding, “This anarchy will not stand,” and “We will not allow federal agents to be attacked, and we will not allow an American city to be invaded and conquered by a foreign enemy.”
On Tuesday, Newsom filed an emergency motion asking a federal judge to stop the Trump regime from sending Marines and National Guard troops to LA, saying, “Federal antagonization, through the presence of soldiers in the streets, has already caused real and irreparable damage.”
On Tuesday, thousands of protestors came out for anti-ICE demonstrations in Atlanta, Chicago, and New York City. Additional protests were planned for Wednesday in Seattle, St. Louis, and Indianapolis.
On Tuesday, ICE agents targeted workers on produce farms in Ventura County, California, chasing farmworkers across fields at 6 a.m. The mayor of Oxnard said, “These actions are completely unjustified and harmful. They create chaos and distress.”
NBC News reported that Cary López Alvarado, a nine months pregnant U.S. citizen set to give birth as early as next week, was shoved by ICE agents who arrested her, even after she told the agents that she is a citizen. She experienced sharp pains and was hospitalized.
On Tuesday, ICE arrested at least 80 workers at a meatpacking plant in Omaha, where they were met with angry bystanders, who hurled rocks and insults at their cars. The raid also created fear and rumors that other workplaces had or would be targeted.
Later Tuesday, in a televised address, Newsom condemned Trump’s deployment, saying his actions put democracy at risk: “Authoritarian regimes begin by targeting people who are least able to defend themselves,” adding, they “thrive on division” to “take more power.”
On Tuesday, WAPO reported that the Trump regime is ramping up transfers of foreigners in the U.S. illegally to Guantánamo Bay, including foreign nationals from allies Britain, Italy, France, Germany, Ireland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Poland, Turkey, and Ukraine.
According to documents obtained by the Post, the regime is unlikely to inform the foreigners’ governments ahead of time. The plan comes as hardliners within the regime push to increase deportations.
Later Tuesday, Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott said he would deploy National Guard troops across the state, the first governor to do so. More than a dozen protestors were arrested in Austin on Monday, with law enforcement using tear gas and pepper ball projectiles.
On Wednesday, Marines were expected to be on the streets of LA, joining National Guard troops. Armed troops started to accompany ICE officers on Tuesday, holding rifles and standing next to them as they detained people.
NYT reported that military officials and experts are concerned about the juxtaposition of Trump deploying troops to LA while holding a parade to celebrate the Army’s 250th birthday on his 79th birthday, saying it appears as if the military is celebrating a crackdown on Americans.
Concerns of politicizing the military and a loss of public trust had been expressed even before the deployment . Some veterans groups refused to attend. Experts say the challenge will be harder as some units are parading while others are policing a public protest.
Officials during the first regime, including defense secretary, Mark Esper and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley, had held Trump back from invoking the Insurrection Act during Black Lives Matter protests. Hegseth has instead cheered Trump on.
Hegseth showed his lack of qualification and expertise by posting that Marines from Camp Pendleton would be deployed on Saturday. The Marines who were deployed on Monday night came from Twentynine Palms, while Hegseth continued to say Camp Pendleton.
On Wednesday, just after 3 a.m. ET, Musk posted on X, “I regret some of my posts about President [Trump] last week,” adding, “They went too far.” When asked if he could forgive Musk, Trump said, “I guess I could,” and said he had “no hard feelings” towards Musk.

Protesters confront police on the 101 Freeway near the Metropolitan Detention Center of downtown Los Angeles, Sunday, June 8, 2025, following last night’s immigration raid protest. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)