Newsom & Bass Claim ‘Win’ Over Pentagon with Deactivation of 1,350 National Guard Troops From L.A.

Despite troops being scheduled to leave within a week anyway, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass tried to claim victory after the Pentagon’s announcement of National Guard troop removal, saying that their departure was a “victory” for Los Angeles.

The Pentagon announced Thursday that an additional 1,350 National Guard Troops will end their activation of service in Los Angeles, leaving only 250 remaining to help federal agents and  protect federal personnel and property.

“Another win for Los Angeles tonight: 1,000 more troops are retreating. We will continue this pressure until ALL troops are out of L.A.,” posted Bass on X.

Governor Newsom, meanwhile, tried to characterize this as a loss for President Donald Trump.

“Nearly two months after the unlawful federalization of units of the California National Guard, and deployment of almost 5,000 soldiers in the Los Angeles area, all but 300 National Guard members are expected to go home soon. So far, 4,700 soldiers have demobilized or begun demobilizing,” added Newsom. “The President should allow the remaining soldiers to go back to their families, communities, and civilian professions as doctors, law enforcement and teachers.

“President Trump is realizing that his political theater backfired. This militarization was always unnecessary and deeply unpopular. The President must do the right thing to end this illegal militarization now because the economic and societal impacts are dire. The women and men of our military deserve more than to be used as props in the federal government’s propaganda machine.”

Despite their statements, those in the military and who knew of the situation on the ground continued to point to the calmer situation in the city and how their pullouts were only a few days away from their scheduled end of deployments.

According to chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell, the Pentagon will remove 1,350 national guard troops from Los Angeles. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered those troops to leave this week thanks to the situation in L.A. calming down, and because the end of their 60-day activation is coming up. A remaining 250 troops will stay put to protect federal personnel and property until the end of the activation between August 7th and August 9th.

“We greatly appreciate the support of the more than 5,000 Guardsmen and Marines who mobilized to Los Angeles to defend Federal functions against the rampant lawlessness occurring in the city,” said Parnell.

For over a month, over 4,000 California National Guard troops and 800 U.S. Marines were deployed in Los Angeles to help keep the peace following large anti-ICE protests in the city. In addition to helping quell protests and riots, the troops also assisted in helping carry out arrests, protecting federal buildings, and guarding federal agents. Overall, deployments were set for 60 days, to help ensure that additional help would be there through most of the summer.

While initially in demand, the number of protests against ICE and federal agents greatly dropped off. The California National Guard even requested the federal government to release a few hundred troops earlier this month to help assist with wildfires. However, the federal government opted to keep troops in place for the fourth of July and a little bit past to ensure that protests wouldn’t spike again. But with no more major incidents that required military assistance, the Pentagon opted to remove 2,000 of the deployed troops from the city a few weeks ago, as well as all the Marines currently deployed there.

Several city and state lawmakers, including Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Hollister), Senate Pro Tem Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg), and Governor Gavin Newsom, were enraged that troops were still in the city, and continued to call for the removal of the rest of the National Guardsmen. While the calls were not effective, the looming August deployment end of service, as well as fewer and fewer anti-ICE incidents and protests influenced the Pentagon to take a look at current deployment. This led to their decision on Thursday to remove most of the remaining troops in the city.

As of Thursday, the remaining 250 troops are currently scheduled to leave the city by August 9th.