US President Donald Trump, while attending the opening night of Les Misérables at the Kennedy Center with First Lady Melania Trump, stated he was proud of his administration’s role in quelling unrest in Los Angeles, which he blamed on “radical left lunatics.”
“I am very proud to have helped Los Angeles survive,” Trump said. “If we didn’t bring the National Guard and the Marines, Los Angeles would be burning to the ground. And it’s not over yet.”
Blaming the city’s leadership for what he called “gross incompetence,” Trump claimed that local police had requested federal assistance to regain control, saying the situation had overwhelmed law enforcement.
Earlier, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt echoed the President’s remarks, denouncing the protests as violent and anti-American. “Left-wing radicals waving foreign flags viciously attacked ICE and Border Patrol agents as well as Los Angeles police officers,” she said during a press briefing.
Leavitt added that rioters threw rocks, set vehicles ablaze, shut down freeways, and launched Molotov cocktails — all in response to federal efforts to remove violent criminal illegal immigrants.
“These attacks were aimed not just at law enforcement, but at American culture and society itself,” she said, citing incidents of American flag burnings and anti-ICE graffiti.
Leavitt affirmed that the Trump administration would not tolerate “mob rule,” emphasizing the government’s “sacred responsibility” to maintain law and order.
Meanwhile, protests against the administration’s immigration enforcement actions continue to spread beyond California. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth indicated that Trump’s decision to federalize the National Guard in California could soon be replicated in other states, CNN reported.
