Trump administration activates 700 Marines in Los Angeles area amid ICE protests

The military has activated about 700 active-duty Marines who could be sent to Los Angeles, joining National Guard troops who were sent to the city to respond to protests, U.S. Northern Command said in a statement.

Members of the Marine Corps could start arriving in the Los Angeles area as soon as Tuesday, a defense official told CBS News. The Marines are based in Twentynine Palms, a city east of Los Angeles.

Northern Command said the Marines will “seamlessly integrate” with hundreds of members of the National Guard to protect “federal personnel and federal property.” They have been trained in “de-escalation, crowd control and standing rules for the use of force,” the military added.

Northern Command said over the weekend that a slightly smaller group of roughly 500 Marines at Twentynine Palms was in a “prepared to deploy status.” Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said Saturday night that Marines at a different base — Camp Pendleton, south of Los Angeles — had been placed on “high alert.”

When asked Monday about the possibility of sending in Marines, President Trump said, “We’ll see what happens.”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said on X earlier Monday that it does not believe the Marines have been deployed yet, writing: “From our understanding, this is moving Marines from one base to another base.”

Mr. Trump deployed National Guard troops to downtown Los Angeles over the weekend to respond to tense protests over Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests. The Trump administration argues the deployment is necessary to protect federal property and ICE agents from violence. Mr. Trump has accused local leaders of not doing enough to deal with violent clashes at the protests.

Newsom opposed the deployment, and the state of California is suing the Trump administration over what it argues is an illegal federalization of the National Guard. Some local officials have argued the deployment could aggravate an already caustic situation in downtown Los Angeles, and say state and local police agencies can handle the protests themselves.

“We didn’t have a problem until Trump got involved,” Newsom posted on X Monday.