'Will Liberate Los Angeles,' Trump Defends Troop Deployment Amid Protests Says City Has Become 'Trash Heap'

(MENAFN- Live Mint) During a tribute to soldiers on Tuesday, President Donald Trump defended his decision to deploy troops to Los Angeles amid tensions over his immigration policy saying, 'LA has gone from being one of the cleanest, safest and most beautiful cities on earth, to being a trash heap'

“Within the span of a few decades, Los Angeles has gone from being one of the cleanest, safest and most beautiful cities on earth, to being a trash heap with entire neighbourhoods under the control of transnational gangs and criminal networks...As the entire world can now see, uncontrolled migration leads to chaos, dysfunction, and disorder.”

"What you're witnessing in California is a full-blown assault on peace, on public order and on national sovereignty, carried out by rioters bearing foreign flags."

“Very simply, we will liberate Los Angeles and make it free, clean, and safe again,” he goes on to add.

Trump's visit to Fort Bragg, home to some 50,000 active-duty soldiers, followed his move to deploy 700 Marines and 4,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles in an escalating response to street protests over his immigration policies.

The Republican president said the military deployment was needed to protect federal property and personnel. California's Democratic-led government has sued to block Trump's move, calling it an abuse of power and an unnecessary provocation.

Street demonstrations have been underway since Friday, when activists clashed with sheriff's deputies. Los Angeles officials have said the unrest has been limited to a few downtown blocks and that the majority of demonstrators are protesting peacefully in support of immigrants.

In North Carolina, Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth took part in long-scheduled commemorations of the U.S. Army's 250th anniversary, watching soldiers demonstrate a special forces assault and use a long-range missile launcher.

It was the first in a series of celebrations of the Army anniversary involving Trump, ahead of a major parade in Washington on Saturday.

Speaking to reporters earlier on Tuesday in the Oval Office, Trump warned against demonstrators at that parade, saying "they're going to be met with very big force." He made no distinction between peaceful and violent protesters. The FBI and the Metropolitan Police Department have said there are no credible threats to the event.

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