Drummond leads effort defending President Trump’s activation of National Guard

OKLAHOMA CITY (June 11, 2025) – Attorney General Gentner Drummond is leading a multi-state coalition of attorneys general to defend President Trump’s activation of the National Guard to keep law and order in Los Angeles. 

In an amicus brief filed today in United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Drummond and 19 other state and territory attorneys general asked the court to deny California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s motion for a preliminary injunction,

“President Trump’s deployment of the National Guard is not only responsible and constitutional, it is fully necessary to enforce the law and ensure public safety,” Drummond said. “I am thankful the president stepped in to protect innocent citizens from the lawlessness and violence the nation is seeing in the streets of Los Angeles.”

In the brief, Drummond and the coalition note that California abandoned Los Angeles and federal law enforcement authorities to violent rioters and that Trump legally can deploy the National Guard to protect the city.

“For the past four years, illegal open-border immigration policies flooded the country with illegal aliens, including criminals convicted of crimes in their home country, violent international gang members and suspected ISIS terrorists,” the brief states.

“Much of that was done in violation of federal immigration law through the assertion of executive enforcement prerogatives. Now, President Trump is trying to comply with Congress’s dictates and enforce federal immigration law—which includes valiant efforts by federal law enforcement to identify and deport alien criminals… Rather than let Los Angeles burn again, President Trump deployed the National Guard, as authorized by statute.”

Also leading the amicus brief with Oklahoma are Iowa and South Carolina. The brief was joined by Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Guam, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Utah. 

In a related move, late yesterday Drummond and 25 other attorneys general issued a joint statement in support of President Trump’s use of the National Guard to restore order amid the rioting.