Essentially every Democratic governor in the country signed onto a statement on Monday slamming President Donald Trump for unilaterally deploying the National Guard in California to try to squash protests against his immigration raids.
In the statement, 22 Democratic governors—every one in the nation, excluding California’s Gavin Newsom, who is also fighting the deployment in his state—called the move “an alarming abuse of power.”
“Governors are the Commanders in Chief of their National Guard and the federal government activating them in their own borders without consulting or working with a state’s governor is ineffective and dangerous,” the governors wrote. “Further, threatening to send the U.S. Marines into American neighborhoods undermines the mission of our service members, erodes public trust, and shows the Trump administration does not trust local law enforcement.”
On Saturday, Trump called in the National Guard to Los Angeles, falsely claiming that protests against his administration’s stepped up Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids “constitute a form of rebellion” that required the military to step in to quell.
“President Trump has signed a Presidential Memorandum deploying 2,000 National Guardsmen to address the lawlessness that has been allowed to fester,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. “The Trump Administration has a zero tolerance policy for criminal behavior and violence, especially when that violence is aimed at law enforcement officers trying to do their jobs. These criminals will be arrested and swiftly brought to justice. The Commander-in-Chief will ensure the laws of the United States are executed fully and completely.”
But calling in the National Guard only inflamed protests, which Democrats say was the point as Trump seeks to change the narrative around his cruel and deeply unpopular “One Big Beautiful Bill.”
“Reminder just because Donald Trump wants to inflame tensions doesn’t mean you have to play along,” Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego of Arizona wrote in a post on X. “Don’t loot, don’t assault police officers, protest peacefully. Trump and Miller will do this in every Blue city whenever they want to distract from something unpopular, like their Medicaid cuts.”
On Monday, Newsom announced he is suing the Trump administration for deploying the troops, saying Trump “illegally acted to federalize the National Guard.”
Indeed, the president’s authority allows for that only in extreme cases of rebellion or insurrection—of which the immigration protests are neither.
Even Trump himself said in 2020—when protests were roiling Portland, Oregon—that he could not deploy National Guard troops without consulting a state’s governor.
“We have to go by the laws. We can’t move in the National Guard. I can call insurrection, but there’s no reason to ever do that, even in a Portland case,” Trump told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos at the time. “We can’t call in the National Guard unless we’re requested by a governor.”
It’s a point Democrats are making now.
“Five years ago Trump himself said he wouldn’t do exactly what he is doing now because it would be against the law,” Rep. Don Beyer, Democrat of Virginia, wrote in a post on X.
Meanwhile, Republican governors have largely been silent about their feelings about Trump deploying the National Guard without coordinating with Newsom. However, when Joe Biden was president, then-South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem said Biden would be starting a “war” if he gave National Guard troops orders.
“They were encouraging President Biden to activate our National Guard soldiers,” Noem said in 2024 about a clash over how to handle immigrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. “We can’t let them take away our states’ rights.”
Now leading the Department of Homeland Security, Noem is all-in on Trump federalizing the National Guard.
Ultimately, Trump deploying the military to squash protests is the latest despotic move he’s taken since reentering office in January. He has also ignored court orders, cut spending that had been appropriated by Congress, and used his presidential powers to go after his personal enemies.
The United States is rapidly descending into fascism one day at a time.