Air Force One touched down in Hagerstown, Maryland, at 4:49 p.m. Sunday after an uneventful flight. But President Trump’s in-flight remarks amid protests in Los Angeles signaled newsy days ahead — and a possible escalation of federal involvement.

In a gaggle with reporters aboard the plane, the president said he was headed to Camp David alongside Secretary Rubio for high-level security meetings with military leaders and possibly foreign visitors, though he refused to elaborate.

“We’re going up to Camp David,” he said. “We have meetings with various people about very major subjects…doing it at Camp David because probably better security there than any other place. We’ll be meeting with a lot of people, including generals, as you know, and admirals.”

When asked if he would invoke the Insurrection Act to address protests in Los Angeles and elsewhere, he replied, “Depends on whether or not there’s an insurrection.”

Pressed on whether he believed there was an insurrection underway, Trump said, “No. But you’ve got violent people, and we’re not going to let them get away with it.”

Even without invoking the Insurrection Act, he made it clear that he’s prepared to send in troops. “We’re going to have troops everywhere. We’re not going to let this happen to our country. We’re not going to let our country be torn apart like it was under Biden and his auto pen,” he said.

The Insurrection Act of 1807 grants the president the authority to deploy active-duty military forces to carry out law-enforcement functions within the United States.

When asked what the bar is for sending in Marines, Trump responded, “The bar is what I think it is.” He elaborated, “If we see danger to our country and to our citizens, we will be very, very strong in terms of law and order. It’s about law and order.”

Asked directly if sending active duty Marines was on the table, Trump said, “We’re going to see what we need. We’ll send whatever we need to ensure there’s law and order.”

Commenting on the protests spreading, Trump said he would be monitoring the situation “very closely.” He described what he sees as violence against law enforcement officers.

“They spit at people. You know they spit, that’s their new thing. They spit, and worse, you know what they throw at them, right? And when that happens, I have a little statement…they spit, we hit. And I told them, nobody’s going to spit on our police officers. Nobody’s going to spit on our military…it’s a common thing, they get up to them this far away and then they start spitting in their face. That happens, they get hit very hard.”

California’s governor, Gavin Newsom [Editorial credit: Ringo Chiu / Shutterstock.com]
California’s governor, Gavin Newsom [Editorial credit: Ringo Chiu / Shutterstock.com]

When asked about the rules of engagement for federal troops, Trump said, “We’re just going to see what happens. If we think there’s a serious insurrection…we’re going to have law and order.”

On how he would define insurrection, Trump said, “You really just have to look at the site. You have to see what’s happening.” He then referred to the previous night’s events in Los Angeles, noting that he was watching closely. “There was a lot of violence, and it could’ve gotten much worse.”

Trump turned his criticism to California’s governor, Gavin Newsom. “You have an incompetent governor, just take a look at the train stations…20 times over budget, nobody’s ever seen anything like it. I did call him the other night, I said, look take care of this, otherwise I’m sending in the troops.”

He made it clear that California officials could face federal charges if they stand in the way of deportations. “If officials stand in the way of law and order, yeah, they will face federal charges,” Trump said.

President Donald Trump has signed a presidential memorandum deploying 2,000 National Guardsmen to Los Angeles to quell protests that erupted in response to illegal immigration raids.

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Ksenija Pavlovic is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of the Pavlovic Today, The Chief White House Correspondent. Pavlovic was a Teaching Fellow and Doctoral Fellow in the Political Science department at...

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