Trump vows to ‘liberate’ Los Angeles as protests spread to other major US cities
In a speech at one of America’s biggest military bases, US President Donald Trump called demonstrators ‘animals’ and claimed Los Angeles was the target of an ‘invasion’
Hundreds of US Marines arrived in the Los Angeles area on June 10, 2025, under orders from US President Donald Trump. The California city’s mayor declared a curfew for parts of the downtown area and police arrested 197 people during a fifth day of street protests. Trump has also activated 4,000 National Guard troops to quell protests in the city despite objections from California Governor Gavin Newsom that the deployments were unnecessary, illegal and politically motivated. In a hardline speech at a military event in Fort Bragg, Trump described protesters as “animals” and got troops to boo the names of Newsom and former US president Joe Biden. The unrest in Los Angeles came as protests spread to other major US cities.