Los Angeles riots: Trump's deployment of the National Guard deemed illegal

The US Justice Department immediately appealed, arguing that the decision constituted "an extraordinary interference with the president's constitutional powers as commander in chief."

Federal Judge Charles Breyer said the president had failed to "follow the proper procedures required by Congress for his actions." He also ordered that control of the dual-guardian reserve force be returned to California Governor Gavin Newsom , who had challenged the deployment in court, denouncing an authoritarian shift.

"He's not a monarch, he's not a king, and he should stop acting like one," Newsom, who has a well-known feud with Trump, said at a press conference after the judge's decision. Justice Breyer suspended the decision until Friday, but the Supreme Court then extended the deadline to Tuesday, allowing time for it to consider the Justice Department's appeal. With the stay, Trump will still have control of the National Guard this weekend in California, where protests are expected.

The 78-year-old president decided last weekend to take federal control of the California National Guard and deployed 4,000 of its members to the streets of Los Angeles, the scene for nearly a week of protests against the heavy-handed arrest of illegal aliens . He also decided to send 700 active-duty Marine Corps personnel, an extremely rare measure in U.S. history.

The protests in the second-largest US city were occasionally marred by violence and vandalism. But in his 36-page ruling, Justice Breyer said the violence was "a far cry" from the "rebellion" Trump described as justifying the military deployment.

Trump on Thursday attributed the relative return to calm in Los Angeles over the past two days to his tough response, but the curfew imposed by the city's Democratic mayor may also have contributed.

Newsom "had completely lost control of the situation. He should be saying THANK YOU to me for saving his ass, instead of trying to justify his mistakes and incompetence!!!" the president had declared before the court decision.

A central figure in the Democratic opposition, Newsom, 57, is considered a possible Democratic presidential candidate in 2028. While the California governor denounced "the crazy fantasy of a dictatorial president," it was another Democrat from the state who found himself in the spotlight Thursday. Senator Alex Padilla was forcibly evacuated for interrupting a press conference in Los Angeles by Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, according to a photographer. In a viral video, he can be heard identifying himself and calling out to the secretary before being pushed out, forced to the ground, and handcuffed by agents.

White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said on X that "Senator Padilla should be ashamed of his childish behavior." The fate of the senator, a particularly prestigious position in the United States, has outraged Democrats, with their Senate leader Chuck Schumer citing "overtones of totalitarianism."

On Thursday in Los Angeles, the situation seemed to have returned to a certain calm. "Everything is under control here at Ground Zero," said Lynn Sturgis, a 66-year-old retired teacher, outside the federal government offices, the epicenter of the protests in the city center.

The protests have spread in recent days to other American cities , still on a limited scale, such as Las Vegas, Dallas, Austin, Chicago, Atlanta and Boston. In Mexico, where many of the undocumented immigrants in the United States come from, President Claudia Sheinbaum explained that she had told a senior American official that she did not "agree with resorting to police raids to arrest people who are working honestly."