An officer works to put out a fire during a protest in Compton, California, on Saturday, June 7, 2025, after federal immigration authorities conducted operations. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Karl also asked about a message posted by Hegseth, who wrote on X Saturday that the Department of Defense was mobilizing the National Guard "IMMEDIATELY to support federal law enforcement in Los Angles," and "if the violence continues, active duty Marines at Camp Pendleton will also be mobilized – they are on high alert."
"One of our core principles is maintaining peace through strength," Johnson said in response Sunday. "We do that on foreign affairs and domestic affairs as well. I don’t think that’s heavy-handed. I think that’s an important signal…."
"You don’t think sending the Marines into the streets of an American city is heavy-handed?" Karl interjected.
"We have to be prepared to do what is necessary, and I think the notice that that might happen might have the deterring effect," Johnson said.
Newsom responded to Hegseth's threat on X, writing: "The Secretary of Defense is now threatening to deploy active-duty Marines on American soil against its own citizens. This is deranged behavior."
"Deranged = allowing your city to burn & law enforcement to be attacked," Hegseth hit back Sunday morning. "There is plenty of room for peaceful protest, but ZERO tolerance for attacking federal agents who are doing their job."
"The National Guard, and Marines if need be, stand with ICE," the defense secretary added.
Los Angeles County sheriffs stand guard during a protest in Compton, California, Saturday, June 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
The National Guard is a hybrid entity that serves both state and federal interests.
It’s not immediately clear if the president can activate National Guard troops without the order of that state’s governor.
It's also not clear if military personnel can be deployed.
Under the Posse Comitatus Act, troops under federal orders cannot be used for domestic law enforcement, but units under state control can. Enacted in the late 1800s during the Reconstruction period following the Civil War, the federal law limits the powers of the federal government to deploy the U.S. military for domestic law enforcement reasons "except in cases and under circumstances expressly authorized by the Constitution or Act of Congress."
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Trump threatened to use the Insurrection Act during the height of 2020 rioting in the wake of George Floyd's death, but ultimately did not do so. He did deploy federal agents to several U.S. cities, including Portland, where rioters attempted to breach a federal courthouse, clashing with law enforcement officers and targeting the building with Molotov cocktails and other projectiles for over 100 consecutive nights.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Danielle Wallace is a breaking news and politics reporter at Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to danielle.wallace@fox.com and on X: @danimwallace.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/johnson-says-hegseth-possibly-sending-marines-anti-ice-riots-not-heavy-handed-deterring-effect