President Donald Trump has said he is sending the National Guard to Los Angeles to crush the ongoing anti-ICE protests, saying he will use the federal government to crush the “RIOTERS & LOOTERS, the way it should be solved!!!”

“If Governor Gavin Newscum, of California, and Mayor Karen Bass, of Los Angeles, can’t do their jobs, which everyone knows they can’t, then the Federal Government will step in and solve the problem, RIOTS & LOOTERS, the way it should be solved!!!” Trump wrote.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that 2,000 National Guard troops will be sent to Los Angeles to arrest protesters.

The White House said it was activating the National Guard under Title 10 authority, putting the troops under federal command – not by invoking the Insurrection Act.

The decision came towards the end of a second day of street protests in the United States’s second biggest city, following a series of immigration raids by ICE agents on Friday.

On Saturday about 100 protesters faced off with law enforcement officers who fired flash-bangs and irritants. One car was set on fire, at least one other was vandalized, and some protesters were filmed throwing rocks at law enforcement.

Some protesters waved or wrapped themselves in Mexican flags.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth threatened to activate the U.S. Marine Corps if protests in L.A. persisted. On Saturday evening he tweeted: “Under President Trump, violence & destruction against federal agents & federal facilities will NOT be tolerated. It’s COMMON SENSE. The @DeptofDefense is mobilizing the National Guard IMMEDIATELY to support federal law enforcement in Los Angeles. And, if violence continues, active duty Marines at Camp Pendleton will also be mobilized — they are on high alert.”

Independent