President Donald Trump’s deployment of military troops to Los Angeles has cost U.S. taxpayers at least $118 million, said Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has sued over the president’s move.
The figure, Newsom’s office said Thursday, is based on an estimate compiled by the California National Guard. The Trump administration has not responded to a public information request for documents and records itemizing the cost of the military deployment, Newsom’s office stated.
The governor estimates that the June deployment of 4,000 National Guard soldiers and 700 U.S. Marines cost taxpayers $71 million in food, $37 million in payroll and another $9 million in other costs. Newsom called the deployment a “stunt” and a waste of resources.
The $118 million total is close to the $134 million estimate provided to lawmakers by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth earlier this summer, as the troops were being deployed.
“Let us not forget what this political theater is costing us all — millions of taxpayer dollars down the drain, an atrophy to the readiness of guards members across the nation, and unnecessary hardships to the families supporting those troops,” Newsom said in a written statement. “Talk about waste, fraud, and abuse.”
Trump dispatched the troops to L.A. in June as protests broke out in response to immigration raids. The president claimed that those protests amounted to a rebellion and that he had the power to seize control of California’s National Guard, which Newsom usually oversees.
The state sued and this week won a favorable ruling from U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer, who ordered Trump to stop allowing the 300 National Guard troops still in L.A. to conduct policing of civilians.
Breyer also ruled that the protests did not amount to a rebellion; the president has appealed, and the ruling remains on hold.
In announcing the costs, Newsom noted that fewer than one-fifth of the troops deployed to L.A. were actually utilized.
Trump has also sent troops to Washington, D.C. under the guise of fighting crime and said he plans to also send military units to Democrat-led cities, including Chicago.
Newsom, who has accused the president of trying to create his own national police force, called on other states to “do the math themselves.”
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