As the riots in Los Angeles lessened in intensity at the start of the week, President Trump has begun to change his tone toward the protests that shook the city streets over the weekend. With the worst lawlessness hopefully over, the rhetoric has likewise cooled down.
On Saturday and Sunday, Trump and other senior White House officials called the protesters “insurrectionists.” Vice President JD Vance called out the rioters on Saturday: “Insurrectionists carrying foreign flags are attacking immigration enforcement officers, while one half of America’s political leadership has decided that border enforcement is evil.”
Fortunately, President Trump’s decisive action in sending the National Guard and Marines to reinforce the local police largely quelled the violence in Los Angeles. It remains to be seen what Mayor Karen Bass, Gov. Gavin Newsom, and other Democrat leaders will do in response to the Trump administration sending federalized troops against their wishes, although there is some indication that Trump is willing to find a diplomatic solution in the wake of the violence.
RELATED: Republicans clash with Democratic lawmakers defending violent anti-ICE rioters
During what appears to be the height of violence over the weekend, it was uncertain how far the riots would escalate. Republican leaders were pre-emptively considering their options, should the violence get worse.
Among these options was invoking the Insurrection Act of 1807, which gives the president the ability to “call forth the militia for the purpose of suppressing such insurrection, or of causing the laws to be duly executed.” The protesters’ interference with ICE operations, which began on Friday, was one of the main justifications for sending reinforcements, though this particular act was not invoked.
Former Representative Denver Riggleman (R-Va.) speculated that the repetition of the word “insurrection” by Republican leadership was a primer to invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807, if needed.
Some, including a New York Times article, noted that Trump would be on “firm legal footing” if he invoked the act, largely because courts would be “unwilling” to rule on what exactly constitutes an insurrection or rebellion. This legal ambiguity gives him the power to act at his own “discretion.”
Due to the effective response of the National Guard and Marines, this option was no longer necessary. With the worst of the chaos potentially in the rearview mirror, Trump partially walked back his rhetoric from earlier in the weekend.
“I wouldn’t call it quite an insurrection, but it could have led to an insurrection,” Trump said on Monday. “That was a lot of harm that was going on last night.”
On Monday morning, Trump took full credit for the quelling of the violence in L.A.: “If I didn’t ‘SEND IN THE TROOPS’ to Los Angeles the last three nights, that once beautiful and great City would be burning to the ground right now.” He also bashed “incompetent” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Governor Gavin Newsom for their “disastrous” and “bungled” response.
This post appears to have been removed and is no longer available on Trump’s Truth Social page.
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Author: Cooper Williamson
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