Trump: Army Heroes Didn't Shed Blood on Foreign Soil for 'Lawlessness'
President Donald Trump said at Fort Bragg that the riots in Los Angeles are not what America's army heroes fought for on foreign soils.
Trump addressed the riots early in his remarks, as he has deployed some 4,000 National Guard and 700 Marines to Los Angeles since Saturday to address the mobs:
Before going further, I want to say a few words about the situation in Los Angeles, California…where I’ve deployed thousands of National Guard troops and hundreds of Marines to protect federal law enforcement from the attacks of a vicious and violent mob.
Trump added that if he had not taken actions over the recent days, “There wouldn’t be a Los Angeles; it would be burning today just like the houses were burning a number of months ago.”
Trump declared that America’s Army heroes did not fight for the nation throughout its history so that radicals today can riot around a city like Los Angeles in opposition to the federal government’s deportation operation.
“Generations of army heroes did not shed their blood on distant shores only to watch our country be destroyed by invasion and third world lawlessness here at home, like is happening in California,” he said. “As Commander in Chief, I will not let that happen. It’s never going to happen.”
He further categorized the riots in Los Angeles as “a full-blown assault on peace, on public order, and our national sovereignty.”
While speaking to reporters hours earlier in the Oval Office before departing for Fort Bragg, Trump said that he acted quickly to deploy the National Guard because of the poor response of Democrat governors to the George Floyd riots in 2020.
Before taking the stage at Fort Bragg, Trump watched exercises by the 82nd Airborne Division and Special Forces.
A parade of helicopters also flew over the crowd as Trump entered the stage to Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA.”