Sen. Susan Collins on Tuesday became the first prominent Republican to speak against President Donald Trump sending Marines to Los Angeles in response to protests against raids by federal immigration enforcement agents.
Collins, R-Maine, said deploying the National Guard to help local police, as the president previously authorized, “probably makes the most sense,” Politico reported, but she opposes sending active-duty Marines.
“I would draw a distinction between the use of the National Guard and the use of the Marines,” Collins told reporters at the Capitol. “Active duty forces are generally not to be involved in domestic law enforcement operations.”
On Tuesday, 700 Marines arrived in Los Angeles to help local departments police the protests, though California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said the soldiers are not needed.
Newsom asked a federal court Tuesday to block the president from using the military in his city. Other California leaders accused Trump of fanning protesters’ anger and stoking the unrest.
The Marines joined roughly 2,100 members of the California National Guard now deployed in Greater Los Angeles.
Trump, speaking at Fort Bragg on Tuesday, called the protesters in Los Angeles “animals” and “a foreign enemy” and vowed to “liberate” the West Coast city.
Trump also announced that his administration is restoring the names of seven military bases that were named for Confederate leaders until being changed by the Biden administration: Fort Pickett, Fort Robert E. Lee and Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia, Fort Hood in Texas, Fort Gordon in Georgia, Fort Rucker in Alabama and Fort Polk in Louisiana.
Like those bases, Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, North Carolina, where Trump spoke on Tuesday for the 250th Anniversary of the U.S. Army, was originally named for a Confederate leader, Gen. Braxton Bragg. It was renamed Fort Liberty by Biden in 2023 and then reverted to Fort Bragg by Trump earlier this year, though this time after a different Bragg, Pfc. Roland Bragg, who was born in Sabattus, Maine, and served in World War II.
The Associated Press contributed reporting.
