US President Donald Trump has vowed to "liberate" Los Angeles amid protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations. He has deployed the National Guard and hundreds of active-duty marines. Can the president legally send troops into cities that reject them? Retired US Army General Ben Hodges shares his insights with DW.
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00:00As you mentioned, the event comes amid anti-ICE protests and unrest in L.A.
00:05And President Trump, as we know, deployed Marines and basically doubled the National Guard without a governor's request for the first time since 1965.
00:15So from your expertise, can the president legally send troops to the cities that basically reject them?
00:23Well, I think in this case, the problem is that, you know, the governor did not ask for the help.
00:30And that this whole thing is a manufactured crisis.
00:34I mean, all the different news agencies that I have watched or reports I've read indicate that what's going on is in a very small part of Los Angeles, which, of course, is a massive city.
00:48I mean, you've got four million in the city of Los Angeles and the greater metro area is like 12 million.
00:54It's enormous. And so something like this, when the president says it's an invasion.
01:00We have to liberate Los Angeles. That is ridiculous.
01:03And I think anybody that's using their brain is thinking like, OK, well, that makes no sense.
01:08So it's very inflammatory language by the president and the secretary of defense and the secretary of homeland defense, homeland security.
01:19They're saying things that are inflammatory, that are trying like they're trying to justify or create a situation that could be handled, should be handled appropriately by the mayor and the governor.
01:33So to to to to jump to this so quickly, that's that's why this is obviously a manufactured crisis in the Marines.
01:44Look, the National Guard is trained to do crowd control, civil disturbances, as well as dealing with fires or earthquakes or floods and other things.
01:58That's they're an asset for the governor.
02:00So they have training on how to do those things in the proper equipment.
02:03The Marines coming up from Camp Pendleton, you know, these guys are combat forces, chances of them having trained properly on how to do to deal with a riot, for example, pretty slim.
02:18And it also now creates a situation where potentially these young Marines, young young Marines will be confronted with fellow American citizens in a situation for which they are not properly prepared and legally they should not be there.
02:36So I really I'm not surprised that the secretary of defense and the secretary of the Navy, who has the civilian authority over the Marine Corps, would have caved to pressure from the administration.
02:51I am I would like to know what the commandant of the Marine Corps he's you know, he's the equivalent to the chief of the Army, chief of the Air Force, chief of the Navy, commandant of the Marine Corps.
03:04Or does this is he is he confident that this was a legal order to send his Marines into Los Angeles?
03:15I don't I don't see how it is.
03:16And I don't think the administration has made a case for it.
03:20But this these are the kind of things that this administration is doing.
03:23They're putting senior officers in very difficult positions where maybe it's not entirely clear one way or the other.
03:30And it's unnecessary.
03:31Does this set a precedent for future federal crackdowns on protests or no?
03:36It certainly has the feel of something that's being done where they're trying out different ways to to do things, to to justify it.
03:47And it doesn't help when you do have some protesters that are either fine Mexican flags or they're throwing rocks and they're lighting fires that feeds the narrative because I guess captured in the news.
04:01And people say, look, it's out of control.
04:04Governor's not doing it.
04:05We got to go in and fix it.
04:06So I think that the.
04:13Well, we'll see.
04:15You know, the governor of California, I think, is doing the right thing.
04:19He's standing up, like defending his prerogatives as governor.
04:23And I think for him to sue the administration in court is the right thing to do.
04:30Other people need to be speaking out.
04:32I'm disappointed that so many members of Congress are sitting on their hands that are they're not coming out saying that this is outrageous.
04:41Also, I'm disappointed I haven't seen a lot of retired military speaking up about this as being inappropriate as well.