MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Four thousand National Guard troops in Los Angeles will remain under President Trump's control.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Yeah, that's after a federal appeals court in California blocked a lower court's order for Trump to return control of the Guard to the state's governor, Gavin Newsom. It's the latest in the ongoing legal battle between California and the Trump administration over how to respond to protests in Los Angeles triggered by immigration raids in the region.
MARTIN: CapRadio's Laura Fitzgerald is with us now to tell us more about all this. Good morning, Laura.
LAURA FITZGERALD, BYLINE: Good morning, Michel.
MARTIN: OK, so why did the court side with Trump?
FITZGERALD: Well, this ruling from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals wasn't very surprising given that the panel of three judges seemed pretty skeptical of California's arguments during a hearing on Tuesday. But the 38-page decision gives us more insight. In it, they say the situation on the ground in Los Angeles likely warranted Trump calling in the National Guard to make sure federal immigration laws are enforced. The judges pointed to examples of protesters throwing objects at federal agents and vandalizing federal buildings as evidence of this. The ruling was unanimous, and the panel was made up of two Trump appointees and one Biden appointee.
They also rejected Newsom's argument that Trump didn't properly call up the Guard through the governor. The administration did that through the state's adjutant general, and the court said that's good enough because the general works on the governor's behalf. Now, the judges did reject Trump's argument that the courts don't have authority to review a president's decision to mobilize the National Guard. And they emphasized that this decision was only about Trump's authority to deploy the National Guard, not what they can do once they're deployed.
MARTIN: So just remind us of why Governor Newsom opposed Trump's federalization of National Guard troops in the first place.
FITZGERALD: So besides his argument that Trump's move was illegal, he said sending the National Guard to quell protests in LA would only make tensions worse. Newsom and other local leaders said the state had enough resources and local law enforcement to respond to the situation on the ground. Hundreds of people have been arrested for engaging in violence or vandalizing public property since the protests first broke out. But over the last week or so, arrests and also protests in general have died down a bit. And the mayor of LA lifted a curfew that had been in effect for downtown.
MARTIN: So just as we are speaking now, this only happened just a few hours ago, but how are Newsom and Trump reacting to the ruling?
FITZGERALD: Yeah. In a post on Truth Social, Trump called the ninth circuit ruling a big win. He also took a swipe at Newsom, calling him incompetent and ill-prepared. But perhaps most importantly, Trump said this ruling would have an impact not just in California, but in any state where a president determines there's a difficulty enforcing laws and decides to call in the National Guard. Newsom released a statement saying he was disappointed by the ruling but vowed to keep fighting out this legal battle. He also took it as a victory that the court rejected the administration's argument that courts shouldn't decide whether a president can federalize National Guard troops.
MARTIN: OK, so is there a next step here?
FITZGERALD: Yeah, well, California could try to appeal the ruling. But yesterday's ruling was just on the emergency order attempting to block Trump's actions. Meanwhile, this case will actually continue in a lower court today, actually, in San Francisco. Judge Charles Breyer, the same judge who issued the initial emergency order against Trump's actions last week, will hear the arguments again. This time, the question will be whether to issue a preliminary injunction, which is longer lasting than the emergency order he considered last week.
MARTIN: All right, that's Laura Fitzgerald from CapRadio in Sacramento. Laura Fitzgerald, thanks so much for talking to us.
FITZGERALD: Thank you, Michel. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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