Secretary Kristi Noem avoided giving a direct response when CBS host Margaret Brennan questioned her about the Trump Administration’s potential decision to deploy active duty troops in response to riots in Los Angeles.
Noem began the segment by commending President Donald Trump’s decision to send 2,000 National Guard troops to protect Los Angeles communities affected by the unrest.
“President Trump is prioritizing the safety of communities impacted by these violent riots and protests, while also ensuring the protection of our law enforcement officers,” Noem commented.
‘So these 2,000 National Guard soldiers that are being engaged today are ones that are specifically trained for this type of crowd situation, where they will be with the public and be able to provide safety around buildings and to those that are engaged in peaceful protests, and also to our law enforcement officers, so they can continue their daily work’, Noem continued.
Further justifying the Administration’s action, Noem added that the National Guard troops sent to LA were ‘there at the direction of the president in order to keep peace and allow people to be able to protest, but also to keep law and order. That is incredibly important to the president,’ Noem added.
Brennan then questioned the Secretary on wether or not she would counsel the President to deploy active duty troops to Los Angeles.
Noem replied that ‘the advice and counsel of the attorney general, the Department of Defense are extremely important to the president of the United States, and we never discuss our personal conversations and advice to the president of the United States.’
‘He makes the decisions. He is the president that sits in that seat, and we are all very proud to work for him,’ Noem concluded.
‘President Trump is putting the safety of the communities that are being impacted by these riots and by these protests that have turned violent, and he’s putting the safety of our law enforcement officers first,’ Noem stated during a television appearance on June 8, 2025
Law enforcement clash with demonstrators outside the Metropolitan Detention Center, MDC, in downtown Los Angeles, California on June 8, 2025
Representative Tony Gonzales (R-Texas), who appeared on CBS directly following Noem, told Brennan that he was comfortable with active-duty Marines being put on high alert for possible deployment to quell a civil disturbance ‘if need be.’
Gonzales, who served for 20 years in the United States Navy, noted that ‘you always want to escalate to de-escalate’ situations of civl unrest.
Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, in the U.S. Capitol, July 14, 2022
Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) gives an interview in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 17, 2024
Yet, not all Republicans agree that using military might within US borders is the right thing to do. Senator James Lankford (R-Okla.) told NBC’s Meet The Press Sunday that ‘active-duty Marines are not going to be put into local law enforcement. ‘
‘They would be in support roles on it, as we have at the border. We have active-duty military at the border, but they’re not doing law enforcement tasks,’ Lankford added.
Representative Nanette Barragan (D-Calif.) represents Paramount, the LA County community where riots have taken place
Representative Nanette Barragan (D-Calif.) who represents Paramount, the LA County community where the riots have taken place, said during a CNN appearance Sunday that even the National Guard troop deployment was not needed, and that the sheriffs on the ground ‘have the manpower that they need.’
Barragan also said that the president was ‘causing tensions to rise.’
‘It’s only going to make things worse in a situation where people are already angry over immigration enforcement,’ Barragan added.
‘We are having an administration that’s targeting peaceful protests, people that are there to protest. The president is sending in the National Guard because he doesn’t like the scenes. He doesn’t like the scenes of people peacefully protesting,’ Barragan stated.
