On June 10, President Donald Trump labeled large-scale protests in Los Angeles (LA) against immigration enforcement and deportations as a “foreign invasion,” pledging to maintain a hardline response.

Speaking at Fort Bragg, a major Army base in North Carolina, Trump declared, “We will not allow American cities to be invaded and conquered by foreign enemies.” He described the situation in California as “a full-scale assault on peace, public order, and national sovereignty,” claiming “mobs waving foreign flags are perpetuating a foreign invasion of our country.”

Trump also criticized California’s governor and LA’s mayor, calling them “incompetent” and accusing them of “hiring troublemakers, agitators, and insurrectionists” in a “deliberate attempt to nullify federal law and assist criminal invaders in taking over the city.”
Defending his decision to deploy the National Guard and Marines to protect federal law enforcement from protesters, Trump emphasized, “Generations of Army heroes didn’t shed blood in distant lands to watch our nation be destroyed by invasion and third-world lawlessness.”

He described LA protesters as throwing bricks, shattered sidewalk blocks, and Molotov cocktails at police, portraying them as “professional agitators” in body armor and face shields, not amateurs. “They’re animals,” Trump said. “They proudly wave other countries’ flags but not the American flag, which they only burn. Those who burn the American flag aren’t Americans or people who love America. They should spend a year in jail.”
Trump claimed that “in decades, LA has gone from one of the cleanest, safest, and most beautiful cities on Earth to a garbage heap controlled by international crime syndicates and criminal networks.” He argued, “Uncontrolled immigration brings chaos, dysfunction, and disorder, as seen in many European countries.”

Vowing to “liberate LA and make it a free, clean, and beautiful city again,” Trump added, “We will use every resource to quell violence and restore law and order immediately. We won’t wait seven or eight days for a governor’s call or watch cities burn.”
Trump’s Fort Bragg visit marked the start of celebrations for the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary, culminating in a major military parade in Washington, D.C., on June 14—coinciding with his 79th birthday. “We’ve won wars but didn’t celebrate. On Saturday, we’ll celebrate and keep celebrating,” he said, honoring “250 years of valor, glory, and victory of the greatest fighting force on Earth, the U.S. Army.”

According to the White House press pool, Trump observed military demonstrations for about 40 minutes before his speech, including HIMARS rocket launches, Special Operations Command activities, and a 600-paratrooper jump.

Fort Bragg, the Army’s largest base and home to the Special Operations Command, Green Berets, and airborne units, has also been a flashpoint in political debates. Named after a Confederate general, it was renamed Fort Liberty in 2023 under the Biden administration to erase Confederate ties, but Trump restored the original name upon taking office. He also pledged to restore the names of other bases renamed under Biden, including Fort Pickett, Fort Hood, and Fort Gordon.

Yonhap News