Trump deploys National Guard to crack down on demonstrations
Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” that Trump’s decision to deploy the National Guard was an effort to de-escalate tensions.
“I think what President Trump’s trying to do is pretty clear. He’s trying to de-escalate all the tensions that are there,” he said.
He referred to protests in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, saying, “What President Trump is trying to do is say this is not going to take weeks this time” to quell unrest.
Lankford also spoke about Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s suggestion that active-duty Marines could be deployed to help respond to the protests. He said in a post on X that “if violence continues, active duty Marines at Camp Pendleton will also be mobilized — they are on high alert.”
Lankford said that the Los Angeles Police Department was “being overwhelmed.”
He noted that “active duty Marines are not going to be put into local law enforcement,” adding that if Marines were mobilized, they would be in “support roles.”
“As the protests rise, we want to make sure those protests actually don’t spiral out of control,” he said.
In an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said that “it won’t be necessary” to bring in Marines to respond to the protests.
“Bring in the National Guard. That’s what happened here in Wisconsin, and it worked,” Johnson said. “I’m quite sure it’ll work in California.”