Unrestrained Trump Turns to Military in Second-Term Power Play
Tanks ahead of being used in the US Army's 250th Anniversary Parade, in Mayland, on June 9.
Photographer: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images
President Donald Trump’s moves to deploy US troops to Los Angeles and hold a splashy parade on the Army’s 250th birthday fulfills his longtime goal of leaning on the military for a show of force and political power.
Stymied in his first term by cabinet members who resisted the use of soldiers on American soil, Trump has a more compliant team around him this time. After sending in the National Guard this weekend, he escalated his showdown with California Governor Gavin Newsom on Monday by mobilizing 700 active-duty Marines, a decision that Newsom called a “provocation.”