President Donald Trump’s deployment of thousands of National Guard troops in Los Angeles has depleted a key wildfire-fighting force as California heads into its most dangerous season for blazes, Governor Gavin Newsom said.
More than half of the 300 California National Guard members who work with the state’s firefighting agency are currently diverted from wildfire efforts to Los Angeles, Newsom said in a statement Tuesday. Trump has sent the military to the second-largest US city to secure federal buildings and protect immigration authorities after deportation raids spurred protests.
The drawdown of firefighting forces is occurring months after a pair of devastating wildfires in the Los Angeles area destroyed entire neighborhoods, killed 30 people and caused as much as $131 billion in property and capital losses. After the rare winter firestorm, state officials have called for expanding firefighting capacity to prepare for longer and more intense fire seasons. California is now entering its typical summer-and-fall high season for blazes.
“With peak fire season right on the horizon, we need all available boots on the ground to protect communities,” Newsom said in a statement. “President Trump’s illegal militarization of Los Angeles is sidelining crucial firefighting and prevention resources – more than half of Task Force Rattlesnake.”
The California National Guard troops are part of Joint Task Force Rattlesnake, which consists of specialized crews of rapid-response firefighters that are often on the front lines of blazes throughout the state. All 14 of the task force’s teams responded to the Los Angeles fires in January, but only nine are available now and they’re understaffed, Newsom said.
“In just the first five months of 2025 California has experienced more than 2,300 wildfires,” Joe Tyler, director of CalFire, the state’s firefighting agency, said in the statement from the governor’s office. “Having the necessary firefighting apparatus and personnel is critical to our mission.“
Trump ordered approximately 4,100 National Guard troops and 700 active-duty Marines to the Los Angeles area despite Newsom’s opposition, saying they were needed to maintain order. Newsom, who has called the deployment a “power grab,” has sought a court order to halt it. A hearing in the case is underway Tuesday.
With the protests now ebbing, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has lifted the curfew for the city’s downtown.
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