Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Chief Jim McDonnell pushed back on President Trump’s characterization of his past statements about National Guard deployment, suggesting the administration's decision to take that step amid the city's immigration protests was unnecessary.
“We‘re nowhere near a level where we would be reaching out to the governor for National Guard at this stage,” McDonnell said Wednesday evening on CNN’s “The Source” with host Kaitlan Collins.
“And my hope is that things are going in the right direction now, and that we wouldn‘t have had to have done that — or we won‘t either,” he added.
Trump has repeatedly cited McDonnell to defend bypassing California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) in deploying the Golden State's National Guard troops, which would typically be under the purview of the governor.
The president repeated that sentiment Wednesday evening to reporters outside of the Kennedy Center in Washington, saying, “If we didn't bring in the National Guard and the Marines, you would probably have a city that was burning to the ground — just like it was a number of months ago with the housing. You would have had a big problem there, if we weren’t there.”
“In fact, the police chief said so much, if you look at what his statements were. He said, ‘We're very lucky to have had them,'" the president added. "If we weren't there, that city would have been burning to the ground. Would be burning right now."
Collins played the clip for McDonnell and asked whether he agrees with Trump’s characterization of his past statement.
"No, we — we were not in a position to request the National Guard,” McDonnell reiterated.
The police chief outlined the “protocol that we work up through,” before getting to the step of asking for National Guard assistance.
“First, we bring in all internal resources to bear on the issue, whatever it is. Then we mobilize the department, or part of the department, to be able to get everybody out there, dealing with the issue," he said.
“If we don‘t have the capacity at that point to be able to do that, then, through the sheriff, we request mutual aid, and we get our law enforcement partners — from police departments and sheriff’s departments throughout the Southern California region — to assist us in doing what it is we need to do,” McDonnell continued. “We’re at that level now.”
Despite the comments, Trump doubled down on his decision in a post on Truth Social early Thursday, again pointing fingers at Newsom.
"Los Angeles was safe and sound for the last two nights. Our great National Guard, with a little help from the Marines, put the L.A. Police in a position to effectively do their job," he wrote online. "They all worked well together, but without the Military, Los Angeles would be a crime scene like we haven’t seen in years."
"Governor Gaven NewScum had totally lost control of the situation," the president added. "He should be saying THANK YOU for saving his ass, instead of trying to justify his mistakes and incompetence!!!"
Newsom has largely brushed off Trump's criticism, while calling the administration's moves a "brazen abuse of power."
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