A large part of President Donald Trump’s justification for the extraordinary mobilization of the National Guard and Marines in Los Angeles is the idea that violent demonstrators are “paid.”

San Francisco — A federal court hearing is scheduled for Thursday on whether the Trump administration can use the National Guard and Marines to assist with immigration raids in Los Angeles.

What the judge rules, and the likely appeals that follow, may alter decades of understanding about the roles of governors and the White House in quelling domestic unrest.

California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom is calling President Donald Trump's military intervention at protests over federal immigration policy in Los Angeles an assault on democracy and has sued to try to stop it.

California is taking the Trump administration to court Thursday over the president’s decision to deploy National Guard troops and Marines to LA in support of immigration enforcement operations.

The new line of attack from Newsom, who is widely considered a top contender for president in 2028, comes after he told Fox LA earlier this week that Trump “is not the same person that I dealt with just four years ago, and he’s incapable now of even a train of thought. He’s making things up.”

Trump credited the military for stopping Los Angeles from turning into a “crime scene” Thursday, while Newsom has said the troops’ presence inflamed protests.

Thousands of National Guard soldiers deployed in Los Angeles are waiting on pay and benefits because of delays in paperwork authorizing their activation.

Los Angeles police swiftly enforced a downtown curfew Tuesday night, making arrests moments after it took effect, while deploying officers on horseback and using crowd control projectiles to break up a group of hundreds demonstrating against President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.