California National Guard members stand guard at an entrance to the Wilshire Federal Building on June 13, 2025 in Los Angeles, California.  (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Vice President J.D. Vance took a victory lap to Los Angeles Friday, following a federal appeals court’s ruling that the administration could retain control of the California National Guard troops responding to protests earlier this month over immigration raids in the city.

“BIG WIN in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on the President’s core power to call in the National Guard!” President Donald Trump wrote on social media following the decision.

Vance was scheduled to visit an FBI building being used by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, meet with law enforcement leadership and U.S. Marines and deliver remarks, according to a White House release Friday morning.

The trip was announced about 12 hours after the administration’s win at the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which held that Trump could keep control of the 4,000 National Guard troops he’d ordered to Los Angeles.

Three judges on the appeals court issued a unanimous opinion Thursday evening that courts had to afford the president wide discretion to decide when a state National Guard can be federalized, leaving command in Trump’s hands while California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s lawsuit challenging the deployment is ongoing. The case has been closely watched by leaders of states around the country.

The order overturns a lower court’s ruling that Trump return control of the troops to Newsom, a Democrat who opposed sending the National Guard to Los Angeles. Newsom has said the Guard troops’ presence has only inflamed tensions between anti-ICE protesters and law enforcement.

The president has the authority to deploy troops to a state with or without the governor’s consent, the panel of appeals judges said Thursday.

The state’s “concerns have more bearing on the question of whether the President should have federalized the California National Guard, not whether he had the authority to do so,” the panel, made up of two judges appointed by Trump and one by former Democratic President Joe Biden, wrote.

They opted to revoke the district court’s temporary restraining order, reasoning that the federal government stood a good chance of ultimately prevailing on the case.

Quelling rebellion, enforcing laws

Attorneys for the state had argued in federal court that Trump’s order was invalid because he did not show the conditions that the statute Trump cited, Section 12406 of U.S. Code Title X, required for federalization of a National Guard had been met and because the order was sent to the California National Guard adjutant general, not to Newsom himself.

The 9th Circuit panel rejected both arguments.

Based on the language of the statute alone, the judges might have required greater support for the federal government’s position, which may have helped California’s case, the order said.

But under U.S. Supreme Court precedent, the president only must meet a low standard to show that deployment is warranted to enforce laws or quell a rebellion, the judges wrote in language that resembled what Judge Jennifer Sung, the Biden appointee, said during oral arguments Tuesday.

“We are not writing on a blank slate,” they wrote. “The history of Congress’s statutory delegations of its calling forth power, and a line of cases …  interpreting those delegations, strongly suggest that our review of the President’s determinations in this context is especially deferential.”

The federal government’s evidence that protesters had thrown rocks and other objects at ICE officers, vandalized federal property and attacked vans used by ICE was enough to satisfy that standard, the judges wrote.

Trump quickly took to social media. “The Judges obviously realized that Gavin Newscum is incompetent and ill prepared, but this is much bigger than Gavin, because all over the United States, if our Cities, and our people, need protection, we are the ones to give it to them should State and Local Police be unable, for whatever reason, to get the job done,” Trump wrote.

In amicus briefs in the case, Democratic state leaders have said they see Trump’s use of the National Guard as a threat to their ability to use their Guards for state-level functions, including drug interdiction and natural disaster relief.

Some reviewability

The opinion did, however, reject the U.S. Justice Department’s argument that a president’s federalization order could never be questioned in court.

In a statement, Newsom praised that aspect of the ruling and pledged to “press forward” with the case.

“The court rightly rejected Trump’s claim that he can do whatever he wants with the National Guard and not have to explain himself to a court,” Newsom said. “The President is not a king and is not above the law.”

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer canceled oral arguments at a previously scheduled Friday morning hearing in the trial court, after the 9th Circuit order.

Breyer anticipated that the state may pursue a challenge based on a potential violation of the Posse Comitatus Act, which prohibits the military from engaging in domestic law enforcement, and asked each side to file a brief by noon Pacific time on June 23 arguing whether the trial court or appeals court should first hear that issue.

U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, a California Democrat, speaks on the Senate floor on June 17, 2025, about how he was forcibly removed from a press conference with the secretary of Homeland Security. (Screenshot from Senate webcast)

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, a California Democrat who was forcibly removed from a press conference with the secretary of Homeland Security, said Tuesday that his home state is the testing ground for President Donald Trump’s push to deploy the military within the United States.

Trump is using immigrants in the country without legal status as scapegoats to send in troops, said Padilla, who in a speech on the Senate floor choked up as he related how he was wrestled to the ground by law enforcement officials. “I refuse to let immigrants be political pawns on his path toward fascism,” Padilla said.

It’s the first floor speech the senior senator from California has given since the highly publicized incident in Los Angeles last week. The Secret Service handcuffed Padilla after he tried to question Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who was defending to reporters Trump’s decision to send 4,000 National Guard members and 700 Marines to LA.

Trump sent in the troops following multi-day protests over Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids and against California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s wishes. An appeals court Tuesday is hearing arguments on a suit by California contending that the president unlawfully took control of the state National Guard.

“He wants the spectacle,” Padilla said of the president. “To justify his undemocratic crackdown and his authoritarian power grab.”

The LA protests were sparked after ICE targeted Home Depots, places where undocumented day laborers typically search for work, for immigration raids.

Arrests, confrontations

The Padilla incident, widely captured on video, was a stark escalation of the tensions between Democratic lawmakers and the administration over Trump’s drive to enact mass deportations.

A Democratic House member from New Jersey is facing federal charges on allegations that she shoved immigration officials while protesting the opening of an immigrant detention center in Newark. And on Tuesday, in New York City, ICE officers arrested city comptroller and mayoral candidate Brad Lander while he was escorting an immigrant to their hearing in immigration court, according to The Associated Press.

In a statement to States Newsroom, DHS Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said Lander “was arrested for assaulting law enforcement and impeding a federal officer.”

“No one is above the law, and if you lay a hand on a law enforcement officer, you will face consequences,” McLaughlin said.

The president late Sunday directed ICE to conduct immigration raids in New York, LA and Chicago, the nation’s three most populous cities, all led by elected Democrats in heavily Democratic states.

“We will follow the President’s direction and continue to work to get the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens off of America’s streets,” McLaughlin said.

‘They opened the door for me’

Padilla in his Senate remarks gave an account of the events that led to him being handcuffed and detained last week.

On June 12, he had a meeting scheduled with General Gregory M. Guillot, commander of the U.S. Northern Command, to discuss the military presence in LA.

Padilla, the top Democrat on a Judiciary panel that oversees DHS and immigration policy, said his meeting with the general was delayed because of a press briefing across the hall with Noem. 

Padilla said he has tried to speak with DHS because for weeks LA has “seen a disturbing pattern of increasingly extreme and cruel immigration enforcement operations targeting non-violent people at places of worship, at schools, in courthouses.”

So Padilla said he asked to attend the press conference, and a National Guard member and an FBI agent escorted him inside.

“They opened the door for me,” he said.

As he listened, he said a comment from Noem compelled him to ask a question.

“We are not going away,” Noem, the former governor of South Dakota, told the press. “We are staying here to liberate the city from the socialists and the burdensome leadership that this governor and that this mayor have placed on this country and what they have tried to insert into the city.”

Padilla said her remarks struck him as “an un-American mission statement.”

“That cannot be the mission of federal law enforcement and the United States military,” he said. “Are we truly prepared to live in a country where the president can deploy the armed forces to decide which duly elected governors and mayors should be allowed to lead their constituents?”   

Padilla said before he could finish his question, he was physically removed and the National Guard member and FBI agent who escorted him in the room “stood by silently, knowing full well who I was.”

As he recounted being handcuffed, Padilla paused, getting emotional.

“I was forced to the ground, first on my knees, and then flat on my chest,” he said.

Padilla said a flurry of questions went through his head as he was marched down a hallway, and as he kept asking why he was being detained: Where are they taking me? What will a city, already on the edge from being militarized, think when they see their U.S. senator being handcuffed just for trying to ask a question? What will my wife think? What will our boys think?

“I also remember asking myself, if this aggressive escalation is the result of someone speaking up about the abuse and overreach of the Trump administration, was it really worth it?” Padilla asked. “If a United States senator becomes too afraid to speak up, how can we expect any other American to do the same?”

Padilla-Noem meeting

In a statement, DHS, said that the Secret Service did not know Padilla was a U.S. senator, although video of the incident shows that Padilla stated that he was a member of the Senate.

“I’m Sen. Alex Padilla and I have questions for the secretary,” he said as four federal law enforcement officers grabbed him and shoved him to the ground.

Noem met with Padilla after he was handcuffed, his office told States Newsroom.

“He raised concerns with the deployment of military forces and the needless escalation over the last week, among other issues,” according to his office. “And he voiced his frustration with the continued lack of response from this administration. It was a civil, brief meeting, but the Secretary did not provide any meaningful answers. The Senator was simply trying to do his job and seek answers for the people he represents in California.”

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson has suggested that the Senate take action against Padilla, such as a censure. Johnson criticized the senator’s actions and accused him of charging at Noem, which Padilla is not seen doing in the multiple videos of the incident.

“I’m not in that chamber, but I do think that it merits immediate attention by other colleagues over there,” the Louisiana Republican said. “I think that behavior, at a minimum, rises to the level of censure. I think there needs to be a message sent by the body as a whole.”

Senate Democrats have coalesced their support around Padilla. During a Tuesday press conference, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer praised Padilla for his speech on the Senate floor.

“It was basically a strong plea for America to regain the gyroscope of democracy, which has led us forward for so many years and now we’re losing it,” the New York Democrat said. “It’s a wake-up call to all Americans.”

Jennifer Shutt contributed to this report. 

Demonstrators protest outside a downtown jail in Los Angeles following two days of clashes with police during a series of immigration raids on June 8, 2025, in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

A federal appeals court late Thursday quickly froze a lower court’s order that President Donald Trump return command of 4,000 California National Guard troops to Gov. Gavin Newsom and set a schedule to more fully hear the closely watched case in the coming days.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit issued a one-page order pausing implementation of U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer’s order issued just hours earlier that called for Trump to relinquish control of the National Guard by noon Friday.

The panel asked the state to file a written brief by 9 a.m. Pacific time Sunday and scheduled oral arguments for Tuesday.

The short 9th Circuit order did not explain the panel’s rationale for granting an administrative stay of Breyer’s order.

The Trump administration appealed and asked for the stay shortly after Breyer issued his ruling Thursday evening. Breyer said the mobilization was illegal and there were limits to Trump’s statutory authority.

Breyer’s order was “an extraordinary intrusion on the President’s constitutional authority as Commander in Chief to call forth the National Guard as necessary to protect federal officials, as well as his statutory authority … to mobilize state National Guards into federal service to quell riotous mobs committing crimes against federal personnel and property and to protect federal officials’ ability to enforce federal law,” the administration said. “The order also puts federal officers in harms’ way every minute that it is in place.”

The state opposed the request for a stay, saying Breyer’s “extensive reasoning” had shown the state would be irreparably harmed without court intervention.

Trump called up the state National Guard on Sunday in response to protests in Los Angeles over U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids. Newsom opposed the deployment, saying it would only make the situation more volatile.

It was the first time in 60 years that a president called up a state’s National Guard over the objection of the governor.

California sued the administration to block the federalization, arguing that the president unlawfully took control of the state National Guard.

Breyer took the state’s side in his Thursday evening order, saying Trump violated the 10th Amendment to the Constitution that protects states’ rights.

Left to right, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul are sworn in before the start of a hearing with the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee at the U.S. Capitol on June 12, 2025 in Washington, D.C.  (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — Three Democratic governors from states that leave immigration enforcement to the federal government said Thursday they oppose President Donald Trump’s decision to send more than 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines into Los Angeles without the consent of California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The lengthy and tense U.S. House hearing where the trio appeared — highlighted by a shouting match among members and accusations of Nazi tactics — came as the nation’s capital prepared for a major military parade and Trump’s birthday Saturday, along with thousands of “No Kings” protests across the country.

In Los Angeles, a U.S. senator was tackled and removed from an immigration press conference by federal law enforcement agents accompanying Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

The governors, whose states have submitted an amicus brief to a lawsuit by Newsom challenging Trump, said the decisions to bring in the military should be made by local officials.

“It’s wrong to deploy the National Guard and active-duty Marines into an American city over the objection of local law enforcement, just to inflame a situation and create a crisis, just as it’s wrong to tear children away from their homes and their mothers and fathers, who have spent decades living and working in our communities, raising their families,” Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker of Illinois told members of the House Oversight and Government Reform committee.

The hearing with Govs. Pritzker, Tim Walz of Minnesota and Kathy Hochul of New York marked the second time House Republicans have called in leaders in blue states that have policies of non-cooperation with federal immigration officials in enforcement efforts. Those policies do not bar immigration enforcement from occurring.

Republicans brought in the mayors of Boston, Chicago and Denver in March.

The eight-hour hearing came after multi-day protests in Los Angeles sparked when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers began widespread immigration raids at Home Depots in their communities in an effort to carry out the president’s mass deportation efforts.

The governors stressed that the president’s decision to send in the National Guard set a dangerous precedent and posed a threat to democracy.

Republicans on the committee defended the president’s actions and instead accused the governors of violating federal law because of their state policies, dubbed as “sanctuary cities.” Immigration policy is handled by the federal government and states and localities are not required to coordinate with officials.

Shouting match over Noem

More than four hours into the hearing, video circulated of California Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla being forcibly removed and handcuffed by Secret Service agents while trying to ask a question of Noem during a press conference in LA.

Democrats on the panel, such as Arizona Democratic Rep. Yassamin Ansari, slammed the video and raised concerns that a “sitting senator was shoved to the ground.”

It led to a shouting match, with Florida Democratic Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost asking the chair of the panel, James Comer of Kentucky, if the committee would subpoena Noem.

Comer said Frost was out of order and tried to move on.

Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who was next in line for questioning, heckled Frost and said that Democrats “can’t follow the rules.” Comer eventually told Frost to “shut up.”

Pritzker said that he could not “believe the disrespect that was shown to a United States senator” who was trying to ask Noem a question.

“That seems completely irrational,” Pritzker said.

Democrats on the panel such as Illinois Rep. Delia Ramirez and Dan Goldman of New York called for Noem to appear before the committee.

“Anyone with two eyes that can see, can see that was authoritarian, lawless behavior that no person in America, much less a senator conducting congressional oversight, should receive,” Goldman said.

‘People are living in fear’

The Democratic governors defended their immigration policies and criticized the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration crackdown, pointing to ICE officers wearing face coverings to arrest immigrants.

“People are living in fear in the shadows,” Hochul said. “People can’t go to school, they can’t worship, they can’t go get health care. They can’t go to their senior center. What is happening has been traumatic.”

Several Republicans including Reps. Comer, Tom Emmer of Minnesota and Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, took issue with comments by Walz at a commencement speech in May, in which he accused the president of turning ICE agents into a modern-day Gestapo, the official secret police of Nazi Germany.

Republican Rep. Eric Burlison of Missouri said that Walz should apologize.

Walz said that as a former history teacher, he was making an observation about ICE tactics — such as wearing a face covering to arrest people — that were similar to those used by secret police.

The top Democrat on the panel, Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts, defended Walz’s statement, and said that ICE is operating like a modern-day Gestapo.

Lynch pointed to the video of the international Tufts University student who was approached by masked men on the street and taken into a van for writing an op-ed in defense of Palestinian human rights.  

“ICE agents wearing masks and hoodies detained Rümeysa Öztürk and those of you who watched that, that abduction, when you compare the old films of the Gestapo grabbing people off the streets of Poland, and you compare them to those nondescript thugs who grabbed that student, that graduate student, it does look like a Gestapo operation,” Lynch said.

 

Union members and supporters rally in Grand Park calling for the release of union leader David Huerta, who was arrested during an immigration enforcement action on June 9, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

A federal judge in California late Thursday ordered President Donald Trump to relinquish command of 4,000 National Guard troops the president called to help contain Los Angeles protests over immigration raids.

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer said Trump’s mobilization of the National Guard was illegal, and ordered the return of control to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who had opposed the deployment. He said his order would go into effect noon Pacific time Friday, likely setting up an emergency appeal by the administration.

Trump’s “actions were illegal—both exceeding the scope of his statutory authority and violating the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution,” Breyer wrote.

He issued the 36-page order mere hours after an afternoon hearing at which he appeared skeptical that Trump’s order was lawful.

Breyer at the hearing appeared not to accept the Trump administration’s argument that obtaining consent from Newsom, a Democrat, was not a prerequisite to federalize the California National Guard.

Newsom has been backed up by Democratic attorneys general across the nation in the closely watched case.

Breyer noted the law Trump cited when mobilizing the troops requires the order to go through a state’s governor, but Trump’s order bypassed Newsom and went directly to the adjutant general of the California National Guard.

“I’m trying to figure out how something is through somebody if, in fact, you didn’t give it to him, you actually sent it to the adjutant general,” Breyer said. “It would be the first time I’ve ever seen something going through somebody if it never went to them directly.”

‘A constitutional government and King George’

U.S. Justice Department attorney Brett Shumate, who argued for the administration, said Newsom’s approval was not necessary for the commander-in-chief to call National Guard troops into service.

“There’s no consultation requirement, pre-approval requirement,” he said. “The governor is merely a conduit. He’s not a roadblock. The president doesn’t have to call up the governor, invite them to Camp David, ‘Let’s have a summit, negotiate for a week about what are the terms that we’re going to call up the National Guard in your state, what are the terms of the deployment?’”

The president alone can determine whether the conditions allowing for the federalization of the National Guard are met, Shumate said.

But Breyer, who was appointed by Democratic President Bill Clinton, said the president faced more limits on his authority than Shumate had argued.

“That’s the difference between a constitutional government and King George,” Breyer said.

Nicholas Green, who argued on behalf of the state, called the federal government’s argument “breathtaking in scope,” in part because the troops appear to be assisting in domestic law enforcement.

“They are saying, Your Honor, that the president, by fiat, can federalize the National Guard and deploy it in the streets of a civilian city whenever he perceives that there is disobedience to an order,” Green told Breyer. “That is an expansive, dangerous conception of federal executive power.”

Breyer seemed less opposed to Trump’s order to deploy 700 U.S. Marines to the area, noting those troops are not yet on the ground in Los Angeles and, as federal troops, were already under Trump’s command without needing to satisfy any other criteria.

Breyer’s order Thursday night did not direct any action regarding the Marines.

Pause requested

The judge, who is the brother of former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, said he would rule quickly, possibly late Thursday, on California’s request for a restraining order to stop the deployment in Los Angeles.

Shuman requested that, if Breyer found in favor of the state, he should pause any restraining order while the federal government appeals.

Green said the state would “strongly oppose” such a pause because of the urgency of the situation in Los Angeles.

The city has seen days of protests starting on Friday over Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids on workplaces. Trump ordered the National Guard to the area on Sunday, saying it was necessary to restore order.

Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass objected to the decision and have said it has caused more chaos and inflamed tensions.

Democrats’ amicus brief

The hearing on California’s request for an injunction came a day after 21 Democratic attorneys general and the Democratic governor of Kansas filed an amicus brief in the case backing up California.

Trump wresting control of a state National Guard sets a dangerous precedent that undermines National Guard missions, they said.

“National Guard troops fight fires, respond to hurricanes, protect their residents from flooding, and provide much-needed security,” they wrote. “By undermining states’ authority, unlawfully deploying the National Guard troops, and leaving the door wide open to deploy the Guards of every state, the President has made us all less safe. This Court should enjoin the federal government from continuing down this unlawful and perilous path.”

In addition to Kansas Gov. Laura Kelley, the attorneys general of Washington, Delaware, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Vermont, Wisconsin and Rhode Island signed the brief.

U.S. Army soldiers work on an assortment of M1 Alpha a3 Abrams tanks, stryker armored vehicles, and M2 Bradley fighting vehicles at West Potomac Park along the Potomac River on June 11, 2025 in Washington, D.C. Tanks and other heavy military equipment have arrived in the nation's capital for a military parade in honor of the U.S. Army's 250th anniversary, which coincides with President Donald Trump's birthday and Flag Day. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — More than 100 heavy-duty military vehicles and weapons systems will parade down Constitution Avenue in the nation’s capital Saturday, just days after President Donald Trump ordered troops to Los Angeles to quell mostly nonviolent protests against deportations.

The display, on the date of the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary and Trump’s 79th birthday, will feature roughly 6,700 soldiers from every division, 150 vehicles, 50 aircraft, 34 horses, two mules and one dog, at a price tag in the tens of millions of dollars, according to the Army.

The evening parade of Army vehicles and aircraft flyovers — plans for which came to light in early May — will occur as protests against the administration’s immigration raids spread through major U.S. cities.

Trump ordered 2,000 California National Guard troops to Los Angeles Sunday after demonstrations opposing Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests erupted Friday, some turning violent over the weekend in downtown LA, a suburb and a portion of a freeway.

Trump ordered another 2,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines to LA Monday, despite numerous reports that protests remained peaceful.

Saturday’s parade in D.C. has drawn criticism for the cost and optics, as Republicans on Capitol Hill seek ways to cut safety net programs, and as Trump deployed troops to LA, defying the state’s Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Trump told reporters Tuesday in the Oval Office that any protests at the Army parade “will be met with very heavy force.”

When pressed Wednesday by a reporter following up on Trump’s comment, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “Of course the president supports peaceful protest. What a stupid question.”

Mass “No Kings” protests organized by a coalition of liberal national groups and labor unions are planned across the United States Saturday, but deliberately not in D.C. Some actions from separate organizations are expected to crop up in the nation’s capital, though details are sparse.

Army equipment stored in Maryland

Tanks and fighting vehicles were transported into the District of Columbia Tuesday night on flatbed trucks, as shown in video circulating online. The equipment rolled in over the weekend by rail from Texas and had been staged at the CSX rail yard in Jessup, Maryland, according to the Army.

A festival to celebrate the Army’s founding in 1775 has been in the works for more than a year and will feature a wreath-laying at Arlington National Cemetery as well as a fitness competition, military equipment exhibits, food trucks and appearances by professional NFL players on the National Mall. 

But details of a parade only emerged in April and were confirmed in early May by The Associated Press.

According to a March 31 application obtained by WTOP News, America250.org applied for a permit for the parade along the National Mall, as well as nighttime fireworks and concert “featuring well known performers, likely from the country music world.” 

A press release for the event from America250, described as the “nonprofit supporting organization to the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission,” celebrates Trump and his role. “Under President Trump’s leadership, the U.S. Army has been restored to strength and readiness,” it says. “His America First agenda has delivered historic pay raises for service members, rebuilt military stockpiles, invested in cutting-edge technologies, and ensured our soldiers have the tools and support they need to win on any battlefield.” The pay raises were part of last year’s defense policy bill, before Trump’s presidency.

The festival and the parade will cost an estimated $25 million to $45 million, according to Army spokesperson Heather Hagan, though the price tag for the parade alone was not specified. The Army did not respond to a question about where the funds originated.

It is not the first time Trump has wanted a military parade. He had planned one in the nation’s capital in 2018 but it was called off due to the cost, NBC reported at the time.

Big crowds and lots of fencing

Matt McCool, of the U.S. Secret Service Washington field office, said for this parade, officials are expecting an “enormous turnout.” The agency is leading local, state and federal law enforcement during the National Special Security Event, the sixth for D.C. this year. They are nationally or internationally significant events expected to be attended by high-level officials and large numbers of people.

Just over 18 miles of anti-scale fencing and 17 miles of “bike rack”-style fencing has been erected as a security perimeter surrounding the parade route. Members of the public wishing to see the parade will have to pass through one of the 175 metal detectors at three security checkpoints.

McCool, special agent in charge of the Washington office, said the Secret Service has been planning security since April 22, “which is shorter than normal,” and that the agency is prepared for protests.

“We are paying attention obviously to what is happening (in Los Angeles) and we’ll be ready for that if it were to occur here,” McCool said Monday during a press conference.

Troops bunking in federal office buildings

The parade will include troops from the National Guard and Army Reserve, Special Operations Command, United States Military Academy and Reserve Officer Training Corps, and it will feature period uniforms and equipment reflecting the Revolutionary War to the modern forces.

Young enlistees sent to Washington to march in the parade toured the D.C. sites near the U.S. Capitol Wednesday.

Not every state sent Guard members. But the New York National Guard will participate, and will house roughly 460 New York and Massachusetts National Guard soldiers in an empty Department of Agriculture office building and an unused General Services Administration warehouse until June 15, according to a press release.

The troops were bused to Washington on Wednesday, and the trip cost — including meals ready-to-eat for breakfast and lunch, a hot dinner and a $69 per diem — will be covered by the Army.

Golden Knights to give Trump a gift

Flyovers will also occur during the parade featuring AH-64 Apaches, UH-60 Blackhawks and CH-47 Chinooks.

The Army Golden Knights parachute team is expected to land on the White House South Lawn and present Trump with a folded flag, according to media reports. Trump is expected to deliver remarks, according to the America250 organization. The White House did not respond to questions about the day’s timeline.

Among the vehicles and equipment rolling down Constitution Avenue between 15th and 23th streets will be Abrams tanks, first used in 1991 for Operation Desert Storm; High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, used to launch multiple rockets at precise aim from far distances; and 9,500-pound titanium M777 lightweight Howitzers that fire 105-pound shells up to 24 miles and are currently in use on Ukraine’s battlefields.

The Army Corps of Engineers released footage of 18-by-16-foot metal plates installed on D.C. streets to reinforce the roads prior to the massive vehicles driving over them.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said in early June that she “remains concerned” about damage to the city’s streets.

“But I gotta think that the Army is among the most qualified logistics moving agencies in the world. They have moved equipment in more precarious situations, so we’re relying on their expertise. But what I can tell D.C. residents is that we will try to keep our road network usable, and if we have to fix something we will seek reimbursement from the Feds,” Bowser told reporters at a June 3 press conference.