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Trump's military deployment to quell immigration protests in LA cost $120 million, Newsom says
Demonstrators gather in front of the Federal building in downtown L.A. guarded by federal troops during the "No Kings" protest.
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President Donald Trump's military deployment in Los Angeles now has a price tag: around $120 million, according to California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
That breaks down to $71 million for food, $37 million for pay, $4 million for logistics supplies, $3.5 million for travel and $1.5 million for "demobilization costs," according to Newsom's office, which released the numbers Thursday, citing the California National Guard.
The Trump administration sent in the military in June after federal immigration raids sparked protests across the region. At the height of their deployment, around 4,000 National Guard soldiers and 700 Marines were on the ground in Los Angeles.
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Currently, 300 National Guard remain in the city, according to the governor's office.
"Let us not forget what this political theater is costing us all — millions of taxpayer dollars down the drain," Newsom said in a statement. "We ask other states to do the math themselves."
On Tuesday, California asked a federal court to block a Trump administration order to continue their deployment through Nov. 5, the day after Newsom's special election will ask California voters to approve his redistricting plan.
Earlier this week, a federal judge ruled for the second time that Trump's deployment of the National Guard in L.A. was illegal. District Judge Charles R. Breyer said in his ruling that the National Guard illegally performed law enforcement duties by doing things like crowd control and setting up traffic blockades.
In the ruling, Breyer wrote that Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth are "creating a national police force with the President as its chief."
Trump appealed that ruling. He has also threatened to send the National Guard to San Francisco.
The White House did not immediately respond to LAist’s request for comment.
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