Federal judge blocks National Guard deployment ordered by Trump in Los Angeles

A federal judge on Wednesday ordered President Donald Trump to put an end to the deployment of the California National Guard in Los Angeles, ruling that the White House has kept troops under federal control illegally for months and must return authority to the Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom.

In his 35-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer concluded that approximately 100 troops still present in the city remain deployed without legal basis, despite the operation being authorized by Trump to address protests against his immigration policies last summer.

"The Founders designed our government to be a system of checks and balances. [The] Defendants, however, make clear that the only check they want is a blank one," wrote Breyer, appointed to the post by former President Bill Clinton.

Although the ruling represents a significant setback for the administration, the court decided to pause the order until Monday, giving the Justice Department a window to file an appeal.

White House defends intervention

White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson defended the president's action, calling it a necessary response to the unrest.

"President Trump exercised his lawful authority to deploy National Guard troops to support federal officers and assets following violent riots that local leaders like Newscum [sic] refused to stop. We look forward to ultimate victory on the issue," she said in a statement quoted by The Hill.

Trump sent thousands of National Guard troops to Los Angeles over the summer, in what was one of several federal interventions in cities governed by sanctuary policies.

A deployment contested in court

Gov. Gavin Newsom and California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed the lawsuit as soon as the deployment began. Breyer initially blocked that operation, although an appeals court later stayed his ruling. By then, most of the troops had already returned home.

The decision now issued by the judge overturns an extension that kept 300 troops under federal command until February. Of those, 200 were sent to Oregon and the rest remained in Los Angeles.

Escalating legal dispute

The litigation in Los Angeles is just one of the open fronts facing the Trump administration regarding the use of the National Guard. The Supreme Court is analyzing an emergency appeal over the deployment in Illinois, while cases involving interventions in Portland, Ore., and Washington, D.C., are still pending in lower courts.