The last time the National Guard was activated without a governor’s permission was in 1965, when President Lyndon B. Johnson sent troops to protect a civil rights march in Alabama.

Newsom plans to file suit against the Trump administration to roll back the National Guard deployment, which he called “an illegal act, an immoral act, an unconstitutional act.”

For months during the 2024 campaign, Donald Trump promised to use the military domestically. His campaign telegraphed it via news coverage and reports from friendly nonprofits; Trump mused about using soldiers against protests.