What to know today
- LOS ANGELES PROTESTS: A curfew will be in effect tonight in the area of Los Angeles that has been the site of protests, Mayor Karen Bass said. California Gov. Gavin Newsom blasted President Donald Trump, saying he "chose theatrics" over safety when he authorized sending in troops to quell unrest. California is seeking a court order to prohibit National Guard troops and the Marines from engaging in law enforcement.
- TRUMP REMARKS: President Donald Trump spoke at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, to mark the Army's 250th anniversary and said he plans to restore the names of other military bases that honored Confederate officers. Earlier in the day he told reporters that protesters of this Saturday's military parade commemorating the anniversary would face "very heavy force."
- NEW JERSEY ELECTIONS: Voters in New Jersey went to the polls today to pick the Democratic and Republican nominees for governor in the first high-profile primaries since the 2024 election. Trump-backed Jack Ciattarelli will face Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill in November, NBC News projects.
- PETE HEGSETH TESTIFIES: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sparred with Democratic lawmakers in testimony this morning at a House hearing about the Pentagon's budget requests.
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Downtown Los Angeles curfew now in effect
A curfew for downtown Los Angeles announced by Bass is now in effect.
The curfew is in effect from 8 p.m. to 6 p.m. in downtown Los Angeles for the area between the 110, 5 and 10 freeways and extending north of the 101 Freeway into Chinatown and Elysian Park until the 5 and the 110 meet, according to the mayor's office.
People are prohibited from being out downtown, except law enforcement, emergency and medical personnel, residents, those going to work or returning from work and working journalists, the office said.
People who are out and don't fit the exceptions will be arrested, Bass said.
“I am exercising my mayoral powers to implement a curfew within Downtown Los Angeles to curb bad actors who do not support the immigrant community," she said in a statement tonight. "If you do not live or work in Downtown L.A., avoid the area."
Governor vows that those who became violent, destructive 'will be prosecuted'
Newsom blamed Trump for inflaming a situation by sending federal forces and troops to Los Angeles but acknowledged that “several dozen lawbreakers” became destructive and committed violence, including burning cars.
“They vandalized property; they tried to assault police officers,” Newsom said, pointing to widely shown video of Waymo cars set on fire.
“If you incite violence or destroy our communities, you’re going to be held to account,” Newsom said. “That kind of criminal behavior will not be tolerated, full stop.”
Police Chief Jim McDonnell said officials have seen a “concerning escalation in unlawful and dangerous behavior” in recent days. On Saturday, police made 27 arrests; today, nearly 200 people were arrested.
Newsom says entire nation should be afraid of what might come next
Newsom may have been addressing Californians tonight, but his warning went beyond state lines.
“California may be first, but it clearly will not end here,” he said tonight, citing Trump's decision to deploy National Guard troops without his support.
Newsom and the state attorney general have said that Trump's move was illegal and that it is only making matters worse.
“We do not want our streets militarized by our own armed forces,” Newsom said tonight.
Trump is pulling a “military dragnet” across Los Angeles to arrest not criminals but “dishwashers, gardeners, day laborers and seamstresses," Newsom said.
“That’s just weakness,” he said. “Weakness masquerading as strength.”
Newsom called it a “perilous moment” with “a president that wants to be bound by no law or constitution.”
“This isn’t just about protests here in Los Angeles,” he said. “When Donald Trump sought blanket authority to commandeer the National Guard, he made that order apply to every state in this nation.”
Rule of law has given way to the 'rule of Don,' Newsom says
Newsom's scathing address tonight took aim at Trump's federalization of the National Guard and use of Marines in Los Angeles and warned of what might come.
"Democracy is next. Democracy is under assault," Newsom warned.
Authoritarian regimes begin by targeting vulnerable groups and don't stop there, Newsom said.
"Trump and his loyalists, they thrive on division because it allows them to take more power and exert even more control. And by the way, Trump, he’s not opposed to lawlessness and violence, as long as it serves him," Newsom added, citing the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
Newsom also accused Trump of taking a "wrecking ball" to the United States' foundations, adding that there are "no longer any checks and balances" and that Congress is "nowhere to be found."
“The rule of law has increasingly been given way to the rule of Don," he said.
D.C. Court of Appeals pauses district judge's order that Trump administration must provide due process to some migrants
The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for Washington, D.C., paused a district court judge’s order that had required the Trump administration to provide due process to migrants sent to El Salvador under Trump’s Alien Enemies Act proclamation.
As a result of the pause, which came in the form of an administrative stay, the Trump administration does not have to get an answer to U.S. District Judge James Boasberg about how it plans to provide people with habeas corpus relief. The answer would have been due tomorrow.
The appeals court ruled a few hours after the administration asked for a pause of Boasberg’s order.
Newsom: Trump 'chose theatrics over public safety'
Trump intentionally inflamed unrest in Los Angeles by illegally sending in military troops for “theatrics," Newsom said tonight.
Newsom said the protests and unrest in Los Angeles, which began Thursday after federal immigration raids on businesses, were calming before Trump escalated matters by federalizing 2,000 more National Guard members and deploying more than 700 active Marines.
“This situation was winding down and was concentrated in just a few square blocks downtown,” Newsom said.
“But that — that’s not want Donald Trump wanted. He again chose escalation. He chose more force,” Newsom said. “He chose theatrics over public safety.”
China and U.S. agree on framework to implement Geneva trade consensus
The United States and China have reached an agreement on trade, representatives from both sides said after a second day of high-level talks in London.
“We have reached a framework to implement the Geneva consensus and the call between the two presidents,” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told reporters.
That echoed comments to reporters from Li Chenggang, China’s international trade representative and a vice minister at the Commerce Ministry.
L.A. mayor: We can handle the situation. 'We don’t need armies.'
Despite having instituted a curfew for downtown Los Angeles after unrest and looting, Bass again said the Trump administration's sending troops to the city was uncalled for and unnecessary.
“We have the capacity to address this situation here, and we don’t need armies or National Guard — especially that we didn’t even ask for,” Bass said.
“And the idea that the president took the power away from the governor to do this was really just unacceptable,” she said.
Police Chief Jim McDonnell also said police have been making progress and have seen improvement through mutual aid from other police departments.
The normal process is that if police need assistance from the National Guard, the governor would be asked, he said.
“We are nowhere near that in this environment,” McDonnell said. “We believe can do what we need to with the resources that we now have access to.”
The Trump administration sent the California National Guard to Los Angeles without Newsom’s approval, which Newsom and the state attorney general say was illegal. Around 700 Marines have also been mobilized.
Almost 200 arrested in L.A. today, police chief says
Los Angeles police arrested 197 people today, including 67 who went onto the 101 Freeway downtown, Police Chief Jim McDonnell said.
Today was the most arrests since Saturday, and they have been increasing since then, he said.
Since Saturday, 378 people have been arrested, according to figures McDonnell gave at a news conference.
He said there have been "several consecutive days of growing unrest throughout the city."
A curfew for downtown Los Angeles starts tonight.
New Jersey governor’s race is set as Mikie Sherrill and Jack Ciattarelli win their primaries
Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill and Republican Jack Ciattarelli have won their parties’ primaries for governor of New Jersey, NBC News projects, setting up one of the most closely watched races of the year.
New Jersey is one of two states with governor’s races this year, and the contest will be an early sign of how voters are responding to Trump’s second term.
Sherrill beat out five other Democrats for her party’s nod, pitching herself as the most electable candidate — after her party struggled in the state last year compared with other recent presidential elections — and as a Democrat willing to stand up to Trump.
Ciattarelli, who had Trump’s endorsement in the primary, defeated four other Republicans for the nomination, casting himself as the Trump ally best positioned to win the Democratic-leaning state in November. Ciattarelli came close in 2021 to defeating Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy, who cannot run for re-election because of term limits.
