An ex-Marine fought off four armed teenage robbery suspects in Maryland this week after one of them pointed a gun at him while he was working on his truck.
The confrontation happened around 5 p.m. Tuesday in Oxon Hill, just outside Washington, D.C., according to reports.
Video obtained by <a href="http://facebook.com/FoxNews/videos/four-teens-allegedly-tried-to-rob-a-former-marine-at-gunpoint-outside-his-own-ho/993407659719786/">Fox News</a> shows four hooded teens approaching Jheyco Borda as he worked on his vehicle.
One of the teens allegedly demanded Borda&#8217;s keys, phone, and valuables while pointing a handgun at him. 
After a brief standoff, Borda grabbed the teen&#8217;s arm and threw him to the ground.
The other suspects initially fled, but one returned and attempted to reengage before being tackled by Borda&#8217;s brother, who rushed in to help.
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According to <a href="https://www.fox5dc.com/news/former-marine-fights-off-armed-teen-robbers-oxon-hill">Fox 5,</a> the firearm discharged during the struggle and struck Borda&#8217;s truck. 
No injuries were reported.
Prince George&#8217;s County police later took all four teens into custody. 
 
Marines are trained to maneuver and escape from hostile situations through the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program and the Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape schools. Borda had reportedly been trained in hand-to-hand combat.  
The <a href="https://dcwitness.org/everyone-thinks-youth-crime-is-increasing-d-c-witness-data-shows-why/">D.C. Witness</a> reported that teen crime in the D.C. area has been on the rise. According to the outlet, “the percentage of homicides and non-fatal shootings perpetrated by youth aged 15-to-20 almost doubled in the three years from 2021 thru June 2024.”

Woman inside her car being threat with a gun.

Teens Tried To Rob An Ex-Marine. It Didn’t Go As Planned.

Crime

Marines

Teenagers

teens

Washington D.C.

Washington DC

The most significant threat to the United States military is the strategic divide between the citizen and the soldier, a distance that has only increased in recent decades as more and more Americans live removed from military life. A peek under the hood at the military planning apparatus can create an eye-opening experience for many otherwise well-informed citizens. Such is the case with a controversy that has spread like wildfire through the pages of Reddit and posts on X since the current Iran Operation began, focused on the infamous Millennium Challenge wargame, and particularly the approach of Marine Lieutenant General Paul Van Riper.
During peacetime, the military professionals of this country conduct serious and deliberate research in an attempt to understand “What is the American way of war? What are its strengths and weaknesses?” Far from an academic exercise, this self-understanding is vital to winning our nation’s wars. As American bombs fall on Tehran and our Navy dismantles what remains of Iran’s fleet, most Americans are watching the explosions without understanding the decades of quiet work that made this moment possible.
In the summer of 2002, the Pentagon conducted a $250 million exercise called Millennium Challenge, the most expensive war game in American history. A retired Marine Lieutenant General named Paul Van Riper was chosen to command the opposing force (a thinly veiled Iran). Van Riper was brilliant, aggressive, and innovative. He used motorcycle couriers instead of radios and signaled attacks from mosque loudspeakers. He launched swarms of suicide boats and a massive cruise missile salvo against a carrier battle group inside the Persian Gulf. In the first hours of the exercise, he sank sixteen warships and killed over twenty thousand Americans on paper. 
This was an astounding result. The exercise was halted, the ships “refloated,” and the game restarted with a script guaranteeing an American victory. Van Riper struggled under increasing “control mechanisms,” which he viewed as unfair, and then stepped down as the OPFOR commander mid-exercise.
The conventional reading of Millennium Challenge is that it was an expensive embarrassment. On the one hand, critics posited that Pentagon brass couldn’t stomach honest results, and more conservative voices faulted Van Riper for “breaking” the exercise. The latter argued that the simulation had been exploited: small boat swarms carrying unrealistically large explosive loads, couriers simulated as instantaneous, and air forces conjured from nowhere. They opined that Van Riper was overplaying. They pointed to Operation Praying Mantis in 1988, and later the events of April 2024. When Iran launched over three hundred drones and missiles at Israel in April 2024, 99% of them were intercepted. The pattern held in October 2024 and the Twelve-Day War of June 2025. Every real-world test confirmed what skeptics argued: Iran could never execute the Van Riper playbook.
Here is what amateurs and skeptics miss. The military effectiveness of Operation Epic Fury is precisely because Van Riper played the enemy so aggressively. This is why we were prepared.
Every day for decades, gray-faced staff officers swiped into the CENTCOM compound in Tampa and burned the midnight oil for uncelebrated hours upon hours to develop solutions to Millennium Challenge — think of it as the equivalent of the Kobayashi Maru. The 752-page JFCOM after-action report acknowledged what Van Riper had proven: that a 24-hour notice to Iran could be devastating to the United States; that we must focus on anti-access threats consistently; and that we lacked deployment agility and needed to take care in our basing.
These findings became vital data points to planners. Across two decades, posture was developed in depth, we upgraded our weapons (Arrow-3, upgraded Aegis), ringed the Gulf with THAAD batteries, and refined counter-drone and counter-small-boat technologies. We stopped giving adversaries twenty-four-hour ultimatums. We increased carrier standoff. All measures built against the Van Riper challenge. That is the legacy of Millennium Challenge ‘02.
There is a growing chasm in this country between those who serve and those who don’t, and nowhere is it wider than in understanding what the military does when it isn’t fighting. There are no movies or medals for the men and women who spend careers in the windowless vaults at CENTCOM, producing war plans upon contingencies, upon war plans upon contingencies — all classified, most never executed, none glamorous. I was one of them. What those planners do, year after year, is imagine the worst scenarios and build the architecture to defeat them. The dominance you are witnessing against Iran was not born on February 28, 2026. It was born in those vaults, over decades, by people whose names you will never know.
A perceptive cynic might see this as the self-gratifying sentiment of a retired Colonel, and maybe so. More importantly, however, with Operation Epic Fury, we are answering one of our own vital questions: “What is the American way of war?” It is an opportunity for an honest reckoning of where we excel and a humble review of where we falter.
We are outstanding planners, inheritors of the discipline of Alfred von Schlieffen and the foresight of the Rainbow Plans of the 1920s. Give America two decades to plan a theater war against a known adversary, and we will execute with devastating precision. No nation on earth comes close. But we ought to pause and ask harder questions about how we respond to the unexpected. We should ask ourselves whether we are a one-trick pony — vulnerable to conflicts in places that don’t look like the National Training Center at Barstow, against enemies we haven’t spent a generation gaming out. Today, we recognize the gift that preparation gives us.
Twenty-four years ago, Paul Van Riper sank our fleet on a computer screen, and a lot of very serious people in concrete rooms took notice. As a community, we studied his moves, debated their veracity, and then built systems to counter them. We war-gamed and rehearsed his tactics until the countermoves became doctrine and the doctrine became muscle memory. Now, Iran has attempted the real thing by unleashing drone swarms, missile barrages, closing the Strait of Hormuz, and conducting attacks across the Gulf. All of which are being decisively defeated.
So today, we owe our thanks and gratitude to Lt. Gen. Van Riper. His courage and insight fueled every nameless planner who will walk through the CENTCOM gates next month and do it all again — because that is what makes victory possible.
* * *
COL (ret) Alexander “Xander” Bullock served in the U.S. Army from 1997-2024, with a tour at U.S. Central Command from 2016–2020 as a logistics planner, logistics operations officer, and advisor in the CENTCOM Commander’s Action Group.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Riper marines

America Lost An Infamous Wargame To Iran. That’s Why We’re Winning Now. 

America Lost An Infamous Wargame To Iran. That's Why We're Winning Now. 

Department of War

Iran

Middle East

Pentagon

U.S. Military

For decades, America’s maritime industry has been adrift. As China’s capabilities on the high seas became more lethal, we floundered.
That changed when President Donald Trump issued a clear mandate to restore our nation’s maritime dominance. He is committed to restoring America’s military might on land and at sea. That’s why we are aggressively expanding our shipbuilding capacity, bolstering the U.S.-flagged fleet size, and modernizing our ports. 
But let’s be clear: you can build big, beautiful ships all you want. But if you don’t have the American mariners to sail them, you’ve got nothing but a collection of big, beautiful, empty hulls.
President Trump and I understand that the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point is America’s secret weapon. It is the training ground for the patriots who keep our global supply lines open and our economy humming. In times of war, they transport military goods to the front lines.
Yet, despite this vital mission, the academy was allowed to crumble and suffer. When I first stepped onto the Kings Point campus last year, I was appalled. Midshipmen were living without consistent heat or hot water, using plastic utensils and paper plates in the mess hall because their dishwasher had been broken for months, and relying on an ancient IT system in buildings that had likely not seen an upgrade since Franklin Roosevelt dedicated the campus in 1943.
These midshipmen serve our country; they should never have been forgotten. America wouldn’t be here without the merchant marine, and the merchant marine wouldn’t succeed without these bright young patriots. 
<h3><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dK1sGZB3qwM">WATCH: The Military Game at Fenway Park You’ve Never Heard Of</a></h3>
President Trump and I will not allow their needs to fall on deaf ears. These midshipmen deserve a campus that reflects the greatness of the country they serve.
That’s why we’ve been raising the alarm. My team has spent the last year pouring every resource into overhauling this broken system. By cutting through decades of red tape, we are creating an irreversible momentum to propel Kings Point into the 21st century.
We signed a 10-year Memorandum of Understanding with the Army Corps of Engineers, who are now on-site daily to drive these massive infrastructure projects forward. They are operating at the Speed of Trump and bringing a record number of top-tier contractors to the table.
More importantly, we have installed decisive leadership who “understand the assignment” and are returning the regiment to the academy standard for military officers. We have replaced bureaucratic stagnation with an unwavering commitment to getting things done.
We’re already seeing results. Projects that were over budget and delayed are no longer boondoggles. We swiftly upgraded HVAC equipment and installed new equipment to end hot water and heat outages. Barracks and shower facilities are being overhauled for a summer 2026 completion. Feedback from midshipmen has been stellar — they are grateful for an administration that is actually delivering tangible campus improvements.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jesus-has-risen-at-the-merchant-marine-academy">SEAN DUFFY: Jesus Has Risen At The Merchant Marine Academy</a></h3>
On the academic front, we are giving the library a total facelift, revamping the IT infrastructure, and building new learning facilities, complete with state-of-the-art classrooms, simulators, and lecture halls. These upgrades go hand-in-hand with our overhaul of the academy’s curriculum and our mission to recruit elite faculty to shape the next generation of America’s leaders.
By the end of 2026, we will have put more than $350 million into this campus. But this massive campus modernization simply won’t be possible relying exclusively on the annual funding the academy receives. To build the world-class simulators, the brand-new barracks, and the academic facilities these midshipmen need to lead, we must keep the pedal to the metal.
We’re working with our partners in Congress to secure additional support and make Kings Point great again. Upgrading the academy isn&#8217;t just about brick and mortar; it is about strengthening America’s supply chains and national security for the next century. This is a no-brainer for those who believe in an America First future that President Trump is laser-focused on delivering.
The success of our nation runs through the gates of Kings Point. We have a plan. We have the leadership. Now, let’s get it done.
Sean Duffy is the United States Secretary of Transportation.
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The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
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Making The Merchant Marine Great Again

Department of Transportation

Donald Trump

Sean Duffy

The U.S. military seized another Venezuelan-linked oil tanker in the Caribbean early Thursday morning, as federal authorities intensified enforcement against sanctioned vessels tied to the Maduro regime. 
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said a Coast Guard tactical team conducted a pre-dawn raid of the motor tanker Veronica, the sixth sanctioned vessel seized by the Coast Guard in recent weeks. The operation went smoothly, and the ship was seized without incident, Noem said. 
“As another sanctioned ghost fleet tanker, Motor Tanker Veronica had previously passed through Venezuelan waters, and was operating in defiance of President Trump’s established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean,” Noem posted on X, sharing footage of the operation. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
Early this morning, a Coast Guard tactical team conducted a pre-dawn boarding and seizure of Motor Tanker Veronica in the Caribbean. As another sanctioned ghost fleet tanker, Motor Tanker Veronica had previously passed through Venezuelan waters, and was operating in defiance of… <a href="https://t.co/MyWyQGH1h0">pic.twitter.com/MyWyQGH1h0</a>
— Secretary Kristi Noem (@Sec_Noem) <a href="https://twitter.com/Sec_Noem/status/2011803374807547909?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 15, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“As we’ve now demonstrated through multiple boardings, there is no outrunning or escaping American justice — period. Our resolve is unshakeable and our mission coordination has never been better. America&#8217;s Coast Guard remains Always Ready to apply the full force of its unique authorities and specialized capabilities against this threat anywhere, anytime,” she added. 
U.S. Southern Command <a href="https://x.com/Southcom/status/2011798070816612578">said</a> that Marines and sailors assigned to Joint Task Force Southern Spear took part in the seizure after launching from the USS Gerald R. Ford. The task force is focused on disrupting drug trafficking and other illegal activities in the Western Hemisphere. 
“The Veronica is the latest tanker operating in defiance of President Trump’s established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean, proving the effectiveness of Operation Southern Spear yet again,” Southern Command said. “The only oil leaving Venezuela will be oil that is coordinated properly and lawfully.”
Trump has promised that American companies will invest billions to rebuild Venezuelan oil fields. 
Last week, the Coast Guard seized a tanker flying a Russian flag that had previously bypassed an American blockade. The ship, the Marinera, had been on the run for two weeks and was set to be escorted by a Russian submarine and warships. 
The operation came a few hours ahead of President Donald Trump’s meeting with Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado. The meeting is expected to focus on Venezuela’s future following the capture of dictator Nicolás Maduro earlier this month. Trump has said he doesn’t expect Machado to have enough support to become Venezuela’s next leader.

MixCollage-15-Jan-2026-11-15-AM-4169

Another Venezuelan-Linked Oil Tanker Seized As U.S. Enforces Trump Blockade

Coast Guard

Department of Homeland Security

Kristi Noem

Venezuela

Editor’s note: This week, we’re reprinting some of our best stories from the past year. In this piece, originally published in November, Daily Wire White House Correspondent Mary Margaret Olohan hits the road for some good old fashioned football with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.
***
BOSTON—On a brisk November morning, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy shipped up to Boston with two goals: making his forgotten Merchant Mariners remember who they were, and bringing home the Secretaries’ Cup.
That’s the trophy that goes to the victor of an annual college football game that pits the Merchant Mariners against the Coast Guard, a smaller but beloved version of the annual Army-Navy game. Fans, alumni, and family of the “Kings Point” mariners and the Coast Guard travel from all over the country to support their teams.
This year, Duffy and Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem — whose agency includes the Coast Guard — joined their teams for the final showdown of the season. They had a bet: whoever lost would host the other team at their agency back in the nation’s capital. It was a rare non-political event attended for the two high-profile politicians, who were there to cheer on their teams and talk trash to each other.
“Our Merchant Marine Academy, they’re excited to play on a on a big venue like this,” Duffy told The Daily Wire ahead of the game. “And sometimes they don’t get the attention that they deserve … they’re critical as part of America’s infrastructure and making sure that we can defend ourselves.”
“The Merchant Marine Academy, our young men and women go out and make sure we have the capability of supporting the military in doing sea lifts, making sure products are moving, supplies are moving, and our midshipmen provide those services,” he explained.
The Merchant Marine Academy is housed under the Department of Transportation, which formerly also housed the United States Coast Guard. The “Coasties” were moved under Homeland Security’s umbrella in 2003. But the reshuffling did nothing to the football rivalry, which dates back to 1949.
The Daily Wire spent the day with Duffy as he wandered around Fenway Park, even down to the locker room, where he aggressively hyped up the mariners before they headed out onto the field. “You guys have more heart, more grit,” Duffy told the animated mariners. “So please go kick some Coast Guard ass today!”
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Many of the midshipmen who were at the game were delighted to chat with the transportation secretary, who spent a big chunk of his time hanging out in the stands with them.
“Oh, yeah,” Edward Lippert told The Daily Wire, asked if he was a Duffy fan. “He’s the man. He’s the man.”
“I love that guy,” added Christian Meyers. “I can’t wait to see him.”
The two young men, who are both seniors at the academy, responded emphatically when asked what it means to them to be mariners. Meyers will go into Navy aviation after graduation, and Lippert will be sailing on his third mates license in the maritime industry.
“Oh man, it’s everything,” said Lippert. “I mean, it’s how cargo moves around the world right? World needs mariners.”
“Pretty much everyone here will graduate with a license in the US Coast Guard that’s capable of operating any boat or vessel in the American fleet,” he added.”We move cargo, whatever it be, cars, containers from point A to point B. We’re what puts food on your shelves.”
The second mariner conceded that without their work, American lives would be significantly impacted.
“It’d be really hard to live,” he said, asked where Americans would be without them. “Costs would be insane. I mean, there would be no food in supermarkets. There’d be nothing. There’d be nothing without us.”
Duffy feels that the Merchant Marine Academy has been not only forgotten but downright neglected by other secretaries of transportation, including his predecessor, Pete Buttigieg (“Boot-edge-edge,” as Duffy chuckled aside to his kids).
“They’ve been shunned,” Duffy said of the mariners. “They haven’t had the investments. They have one of the most beautiful campuses, but no one has  reinvigorated it. No one has invested in it.”
When Duffy first arrived in Kings Point, New York to visit the Merchant Marine Academy, he found out that these midshipmen had gone four months without hot water. A green energy effort brought in an electric boiler that didn’t work and ultimately led to the midshipmen going without water for months, he said with a shake of his head.
“So they’re taking cold showers. They have mold in in their dorms. Their dishwasher broke. They didn’t have regular plates and silverware. They had plastic plates, plastic silverware.”
When he brought it up to the midshipmen, he expected that they would be angry. Instead, he joked, they beat their chests and were proud of their tough situation: “I said, ‘No hot water?’ And they’re like, ‘ROAR!! You’re damn right we did! No hot water!&#8217;”
He also found out that President Joe Biden’s administration removed a mural of Jesus Christ on the water from the academy and put it in the basement.
“Shameful,” said Duffy. “It’s been in the academy for over 50 years!”
“I said that’s it, we are going to we are going to resurrect the painting of Jesus on the water out of the basement and put him back in his place of prominence. And when I mentioned it to the to the midshipman, they lost their minds.”
He doesn’t have to “bring faith back to the academy,” he said, questioned about the move: “These are faithful young men and women.”
One way that he’s boosting morale is by telling the mariners that the “black sheep” is their mascot, leaning into the idea that they are the “black sheep” of the academies and need to fight to reclaim their identity. Duffy himself was sporting a Merchant Mariners sweatshirt with the black sheep on it, as were his daughters and son who attended the game with him.
“I just I think it’s wrong that we have a great American academy with great young American men and women, that we don’t respect them,” Duffy shared. “They are the black sheep of all the academies, right? And sometimes when you feel a little beaten, you’re an underdog, you come back, have a little more heart, a little more energy, a little more fight.”
“You can see we have our black sheep shirts on,” he added. “And we embrace it and we still kick ass. We still have grit. We still crush it like what’s going to happen today on the football field here at Fenway.”
The mariners did indeed crush the Coast Guard that day in the very final seconds of the game. Duffy joined them on the field, holding the trophy high above his head as he cheered, exuberantly celebrating with the young men — and even jokingly trash talking Noem, who didn’t come down to the field for the Merchant Marine Academy victory.
“Well done man,” he told the mariners as they left the field, shaking their hands and slapping them on the back. “Thank you for fighting! Well done.”

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Best Of 2025: Sean Duffy Puts The Merchant Mariners On The Map — Starting With A Football Win.

College Football

&#8220;Extreme gratitude” has sustained retired Marine and Purple Heart recipient Gabe Martinez after he lost both of his legs to a roadside bomb in Afghanistan 15 years ago.
Martinez spoke to Morning Wire about his injury, recovery, life after the military, and the Semper Fi &amp; America’s Fund that helps wounded veterans with severe injuries and disabilities.
Martinez was in seventh grade on September 11, 2001, when al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked commercial planes and flew them into the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon, while a fourth crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. The tragedy spurred Martinez to enlist in the Marines in 2006, immediately after graduating high school.
In 2008, Martinez found himself on his first deployment with a Marine Expeditionary Unit assigned to Navy ships across the Middle East. Two years later, in 2010, he was on his second deployment, this time in Afghanistan.
“Thanksgiving 2010 is obviously a day I&#8217;ll never forget. I remember everything about it,” said Martinez. “I was in for about three years at that point. We were going to the Helmand province of Afghanistan. … We knew it was going to be a tougher deployment. That was a real brutal year for some of the Marine Corps units out there.”
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About an hour into the convoy near a Taliban stronghold, an IED exploded underneath one of the vehicles in Martinez’s line. Martinez’s immediate job was to hunt for secondary explosives hidden in the surrounding dirt. The wreckage of the destroyed vehicle made his metal detector worthless. He was forced to dig in the dirt with his hands, carefully sweeping for more potentially buried explosives. 
Martinez had just finished investigating one spot and was moving to another area where the dirt appeared to have been recently disturbed when another IED — a 25-pound bomb in a glass jar — exploded beneath him.
“I remember getting tossed up into the air, and then I landed in this crater that the IED had created,” he recalled. “I remember everything was red — like all my vision was red — and I remember thinking, like, something really got rattled loose up, you know, up in my head. And what I realized is that it was blood going down from my skull into my eyes. The piece of shrapnel had gone through my helmet and into my forehead.”
“I remember wiping that free and looking down and seeing that my legs were, they were still there. One was hanging off to the side, one was on my chest,” Martinez said.
A whirlwind 48 hours followed. Martinez and two more Marines, one concussed from the first IED and the other with his legs also blown off from a bomb just after Martinez, were loaded together on a helicopter and rushed to the nearest medical facility capable of performing surgery. Within an hour of his injury, Martinez, still conscious, was able to call his wife using a satellite phone on the base.
Doctors at the facility finished amputating what was left of Martinez’s legs. From there, he was flown back to the United States and arrived in Bethesda, Maryland, less than two days after stepping on an IED in Afghanistan.
After finding out that he would survive, Martinez’s thoughts shifted to how he would live with his injury. But despite the difficulties, he was mostly grateful to be alive.
“I didn&#8217;t really know what life looked like for me, especially now having no legs — lost both my legs at 22 years old, I was recently married — and so life was very uncertain at that point. In my mind, I figured that was pretty much it. I didn&#8217;t have legs, so I was figuratively and literally half the man I once was,” said Martinez.
“The day I woke up in the hospital in the United States was when I met the Semper Fi &amp; America&#8217;s Fund, and they were able to answer a lot of that for me, you know, because fortunately-slash-unfortunately, they had a lot of experience with my situation,” he continued. “My mentality then is similar to how it is now — and it&#8217;s gratitude despite ups and downs. It&#8217;s extreme gratitude.”
The Semper Fi &amp; America’s Fund <a href="https://thefund.org/hero-stories/marine-sergeant-gabe-martinez-why-i-became-a-marine/">provided</a> Martinez opportunities to push himself and conquer new challenges despite his disability.
“My wife still to this day says I was like a ‘yes man.’ Like, I said yes to anything and everything, whether it was rock climbing, skiing–things I&#8217;ve never even done before, I found myself doing it. And it was great for my recovery because it showed me what I could do. And really, there weren&#8217;t any limits to what I could or couldn&#8217;t do,” he said.
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The toughest challenge for Martinez was leaving the military and losing the community that had sustained him throughout the early days of his injury. Martinez again found himself relying on the Semper Fi &amp; America’s Fund. The fund assigned Martinez a case manager who checked in on his progress and connected him with other veterans in similar situations.
In the military, the anniversary of wounds like Martinez’s is called “Alive Days,” and so Martinez’s Alive Day comes around Thanksgiving every year. (He suffered his injury the day after Thanksgiving in Afghanistan, which happened to be the day of Thanksgiving in the United States). 
Having his Alive Day fall on Thanksgiving has reinforced the gratitude he felt early on at just surviving and being able to return home.
“For me and my Alive Day being either on or around Thanksgiving was one of those blessings in disguise because it brings me back to that day 15 years ago … and like I said, gives me that reset perspective,” he said. “I&#8217;m able to, you know, look around and see my family, my kids, you know, my wife and family — kind of how my future has evolved from 15 years ago.&#8221;
“It gives me that perspective of even though every day is not perfect, even though many days I wish, you know, I had my legs or this didn&#8217;t happen to me, it gives me so much to be thankful for. And then being on Thanksgiving just kind of amplifies that while I&#8217;m surrounded by family and friends and all the chaos that ensues with that,” he continued. “I mean, it&#8217;s a huge blessing, and it&#8217;s a great reset for me to kind of have that perspective.”

Purple heart

Gabe Martinez Lost His Legs In Afghanistan 15 Years Ago. Here’s What Thanksgiving Means To Him.

Afghanistan

Thanksgiving

Veterans

On Independence Day, we celebrate.
On Memorial Day, we remember.
On Veterans Day, we honor. We honor all who, at one point in time, signed a blank check to the United States of America and said, “I’m in.”
But in for what? And for how long?
What I signed up for was to be part of the solution, to be a defender for my country. To be part of something bigger than myself and to sacrifice my “right now” for the future of my nation.
That oath wasn’t about a uniform. It was about a calling. Service doesn’t end when the deployment does; it simply takes new form.
When I first took my oath, I thought it was a promise limited by time, a contract that ended when my active duty did. But years later, I’ve realized that my oath was never meant to expire. It was a declaration of lifelong responsibility, a commitment to something far greater than myself: to stand ready, in whatever way the moment demands.
<div id="attachment_998785" style="width: 812px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-998785" class="size-full wp-image-998785" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Jimmy-graham.jpg" alt="" width="802" height="564" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Jimmy-graham.jpg 802w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Jimmy-graham-300x211.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Jimmy-graham-768x540.jpg 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 802px) 100vw, 802px" />Credit: Jimmy Graham</div>
I may no longer be on active duty status, defending freedom on distant shores, but I’ve never been more active. Everything I do is a continuation of service — to this nation that I dearly love and to the people in it. The war today is against apathy, division, and moral decay. It’s the fight for our children’s minds in classrooms that have forgotten the truth. It’s the struggle for integrity in leadership, for unity in our communities, and for courage in a culture that rewards comfort. It’s a war for meaning in a generation that’s been told purpose is optional.
My battleground has shifted from standing on the frontlines of combat to standing in the frontlines of my home and community.
True service evolves. It becomes mentorship, leadership, and example-setting. It means preparing others to stand firm when life demands strength. It means showing young men and women that service isn’t just about defending borders; it’s about defending principles.
Many veterans understand this instinctively. We can’t turn it off, nor should we. The discipline, humility, and vigilance we learned in uniform are needed now more than ever right in our own city. Our duty didn’t end when we hung up our gear; it was simply reassigned.
But, we can’t expect our military or our first responders to shoulder all of the responsibility for keeping our nation safe and strong. If the last few years have shown us anything, it’s that danger doesn’t always knock first, it shows up unexpectedly in our schools, our churches, and our neighborhoods. We can’t outsource courage, so we must all be ready to fight and defend.
That relentless commitment to excellence and readiness is what our nation needs. It’s what we can all learn from the men and women who’ve worn the uniform and adopted a service mindset that transcends battlefields.
<div id="attachment_998787" style="width: 730px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-998787" class="size-large wp-image-998787" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/J-Graham-720x576.jpg" alt="Credit: Jimmy Graham" width="720" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/J-Graham-720x576.jpg 720w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/J-Graham-300x240.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/J-Graham-768x614.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/J-Graham.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px" />Credit: Jimmy Graham</div>
So how do we honor veterans this Veterans Day? By doing more than saying, &#8220;thank you.&#8221; By showing our unyielding appreciation for those who fought for this country, but also by recognizing those wearing a new uniform and continuing the fight here at home. The ones leading in their churches, mentoring the next generation, and protecting their communities.
To those who’ve never served, I hope you turn your gratitude into movement. Put on that metaphorical uniform and join the new mission alongside the Vets now serving at home.
To my fellow veterans, thank you for your courageous service. I invite you back into “active duty.” This nation needs your leadership, professionalism, and courage now more than ever. Find a way to better serve your family, your community, and your country once again.
More than a once-a-year &#8220;thank you,&#8221; we need active appreciation. We need proof that the generations to come will carry on our fight for freedom. That the men and women of this great nation will continually defend our land and sacred institutions through service that comes in all shapes and sizes. That is how we can truly honor our veterans.
* * *
Jimmy Graham, CEO of<a href="https://ableshepherd.com/"> Able Shepherd</a>, is a veteran Navy SEAL and former CIA Global Response Staff Protective Officer with over two decades of experience in high-risk environments worldwide. He and his team train civilians, law enforcement, and first responders across the U.S. in armed and unarmed response to active threats to improve community safety and preparedness.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Military Family Reuniting at Miramar in San Diego

Honoring A Veteran Means Doing More Than Saying ‘Thank You’

Honoring A Veteran Means Doing More Than Saying 'Thank You'

Navy SEAL

Soldiers

U.S. Air Force

U.S. Army

U.S. Navy

Veterans Day

The Pentagon has come out against a new Netflix series aimed at promoting LGBT themes. “Boots,” based on a memoir titled &#8220;The Pink Marine,&#8221; is <a href="https://www.netflix.com/title/81427990">about</a> a gay “bullied teen” who “impulsively” joins the U.S. Marine Corps and “finds new purpose — and unexpected brotherhood — with his motley team of fellow recruits.”
Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson released a statement on the series, saying a person’s sexuality is not relevant in this administration’s effort to strengthen our military.
&#8220;Under President Trump and Secretary [Pete] Hegseth, the U.S. military is getting back to restoring the warrior ethos. Our standards across the board are elite, uniform, and sex neutral because the weight of a rucksack or a human being doesn&#8217;t care if you&#8217;re a man, a woman, gay, or straight,&#8221; a statement given to Entertainment Weekly <a href="https://ew.com/pentagon-slams-netflix-gay-military-drama-boots-11831105">said</a>.
Kingsley confirmed that officials &#8220;will not compromise our standards to satisfy an ideological agenda, unlike Netflix whose leadership consistently produces and feeds woke garbage to their audience and children.&#8221;
Hegseth made waves during a September speech to his top military leaders after sharing new directives for the War Department, including the news that every military branch will ensure that requirements for combat positions return to “the highest male standard.”
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“This job is life or death,” he said at the time, as The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/we-are-done-with-that-sht-trump-hegseth-demand-excellence-from-military-brass?author=Mary+Margaret+Olohan&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=%E2%80%98We+Are+Done+With+That+Sh*t%E2%80%99%3A+Trump%2C+Hegseth+Demand+Excellence+From+Military+Brass">reported</a>. “Standards must be met … it’s common sense and core to who we are and what we do.”
Hegseth also noted that the military would no longer focus on ideology-driven initiatives left over from the Biden years, noting that their department is “done with that s***” and there will be no more “identity months, DEI offices, [and] dudes in dresses.”
“Boots,” which stars Miles Heizer and Vera Farmiga, premiered October 9 and has been ranking in Netflix’s top 10 viewed charts ever since. The series is critical of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” military policy from the 90s that required recruits to keep their sexual identity secret.

Miles Hezier

‘Woke Garbage’: Pentagon Blasts New Netflix Series About Gay Marine

Entertainment

LGBT

Military

Netflix

Pete Hegseth

Social Issues

Television

U.S.

Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY), the chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, said on Tuesday that she believes President Donald Trump&#8217;s troop <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-sends-another-2000-national-guard-troops-to-l-a" target="_blank" rel="noopener">deployment</a> in response to the violent anti-ICE protests around Los Angeles is worthy of impeachment.
In a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3VMJlLi9nw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">press conference</a> on Capitol Hill, a reporter asked whether the descriptors that Democrats have applied to Trump&#8217;s actions — specifically: &#8220;lawlessness, and unconstitutional, and a violation of human rights&#8221; — would &#8220;rise to the level of impeachment&#8221; and whether they are &#8220;impeachable offenses.&#8221;
Clarke responded in the affirmative.
&#8220;Well, you know, I believe it is. I definitely believe it is,&#8221; the influential Democrat said, &#8220;but we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.&#8221;
The president invoked the ire of Democrats for sending National Guardsmen and U.S. Marines to Los Angeles amid violent anti-ICE protests, leading to a legal standoff with California Governor Gavin Newsom, who <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/california-sues-trump-over-national-guard-deployment-says-president-manufactured-crisis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sued</a> the Trump administration and is trying to <a href="https://x.com/yashar/status/1932506908461838759" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stop</a> the deployment.
&#8220;Look, if we didn’t get involved, right now, Los Angeles would be burning &#8230; Los Angeles right now would be on fire. And we have it in great shape. I am not playing around,&#8221; Trump <a href="https://x.com/TrumpWarRoom/status/1932477437549425074" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
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When asked about Clarke&#8217;s view on impeachment, House Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar (D-CA) indicated his party is not ready to go there.
“I&#8217;ve said before, from this podium, that House Democrats aren’t focused on impeachment today,” Aguilar <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59sURASZvos" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> during another press conference. &#8220;We are focused on holding the president and House Republicans accountable for the policies that attack the basic needs, like health care and food assistance.&#8221;
Some Democrats have tried <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/rejected-by-his-own-party-democrat-backs-down-on-forcing-trump-impeachment-vote" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pushing impeachment</a> during this session of Congress, accusing Trump of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/house-democrat-moves-to-impeach-trump-over-dastardly-deeds" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&#8220;dastardly deeds&#8221;</a> and other alleged offenses, but they have all fizzled out as the Republicans who are largely aligned with the president control the House.
But Aguilar went on to suggest an inquiry could be a consideration in the future — if Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairwoman Suzan DelBene (D-WA) leads her party to seize back the House with the midterm elections in 2026.
&#8220;There will be plenty of time, when Suzan DelBene guides us to the majority, for us to exercise oversight where we can ask some very difficult questions [about] the policies that the administration is going currently, but right now that isn&#8217;t our focus,&#8221; Aguilar said.

Rep. Yvette Clarke

Black Caucus Head Wants To Impeach Trump For Sending Troops To Los Angeles

California

Congress

Impeachment

Los Angeles

National Guard

Protests

Riots

U.S. House of Representatives

The destructive anti-ICE riots in Los Angeles continue – and the state&#8217;s Democratic leaders are doubling down on their support. Democrats accuse Trump of overstepping his authority by using the National Guard to protect California – but America has a long history of “sending in the troops.” And, California taxpayers might be unknowingly funding the L.A. protests. We speak to a woman who says she has the receipts.
It’s Tuesday, June 10, and this is the news you need to know to start your day.
Morning Wire is available on video! You can watch today’s episode here:
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If you’d rather listen to your news, today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below:
<iframe style="width: 100%; max-width: 660px; overflow: hidden; border-radius: 10px;" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/la-riots-continue-troops-move-in-6-10-25/id1576594336?i=1000712231049" height="175" frameborder="0" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation"></iframe>
<h2>California Leaders Fiddle As L.A. Burns</h2>
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Topline: Pockets of Los Angeles are still under siege by anti-ICE rioters &#8212; and now the Marines are stepping in.
After a weekend of riots, on Monday afternoon, President Donald Trump deployed hundreds of Marines expected to protect federal personnel and property. They will join the 2,000 National Guardsmen who’ve already been activated. 
The move came as the unrest entered its fourth day. The chaos continued over the last 24 hours with rioters downtown shutting down a highway, setting self-driving autotaxis on fire, and lobbing bricks, Molotov cocktails, and fireworks at police. In one incident, rioters smashed out the windows at LAPD headquarters. In another, a number of businesses, including a Jordan sneaker store, were broken into and looted. Dozens of arrests have been made, but violent crowds continued to form overnight, vowing to riot until federal agents cease their deportation raids.
Trump has thus far refused to back down. The president said on Truth Social that he would “deal with the violent, instigated riots in California” and that without his deployment of the National Guard, “Los Angeles would have been completely obliterated.”
However, Republicans have accused many California Democrats of offering tacit support to the rioters while blaming President Trump for the violence:
Governor Gavin Newsom wrote on <a href="https://x.com/CAgovernor/status/1931916549490929862">X</a>, “Donald Trump is putting fuel on this fire. Commandeering a state&#8217;s National Guard without consulting the Governor of that state is illegal and immoral,” and the governor has announced plans to sue the administration for deploying California’s National Guard without permission. In an interview with <a href="https://x.com/DOGE__news/status/1931911364487876934">MSNBC</a>, Newsom challenged Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, to arrest him. “Come after me. Arrest me. Let’s just get it over with, tough guy. I don’t give a damn.”
(For his part, Trump responded Monday by saying, “I would [arrest him] if I were Tom. Gavin likes the publicity.”)
Senator Alex Padilla characterized the protests as <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1932081379082129886">“peaceful” and “passionate”</a>. “The vast majority of protesters and demonstrators are peaceful. … When you come into a community like Los Angeles, the way the Trump administration has, you need to expect to be countered with people who are passionate about defending fundamental rights.”
California Congresswoman Maxine Waters falsely claimed on CNN that there has been “no violence,” and later <a href="https://x.com/Mrgunsngear/status/1931839150145069529">taunted</a> members of the National Guard, saying, “What are you gonna do, shoot some kids? You gonna shoot an elected official? If you shoot me, you better shoot straight. I don’t know why you’re in my city … this is Trump.”
The White House has argued these riots are proving their point — that illegal aliens are wreaking havoc on American cities.
<h2>National Guard Legal Dispute</h2>
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Topline: President Trump dispatched National Guard troops to Los Angeles this weekend despite the protests of local Democrat leaders. While disputes over National Guard deployments are unusual, they aren’t entirely unprecedented.
The federal government is typically barred from deploying military resources for law enforcement purposes in the United States – with one exception, found in the Insurrection Act, which says that the military can be deployed to enforce the law or quell rebellion. Constitutionally, its use relies on Congress’s authority to “provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions.”
The last time the National Guard was called on to quell riots was, coincidentally, also in Los Angeles, when President George H. W. Bush called them in to crack down on the Rodney King riots. One big difference between 1992 and today is that Bush had the backing of California’s governor and the mayor of L.A. Trump has neither, and that has been a focus of criticism.
California filed a lawsuit against the federal government on Monday, arguing that Trump&#8217;s mobilization of the National Guard violated constitutional procedure and the state’s sovereignty.
“[Trump’s order] abused the federal government&#8217;s authority and violated the 10th Amendment and federal law,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta <a href="https://x.com/cspan/status/1932142229793239207">said</a>. “As a result, I, in partnership with Governor Gavin Newsom, [am] suing President Trump and asking the court to set aside the president&#8217;s unlawful action federalizing the California National Guard.”
Republicans have largely supported the president’s actions and condemned the ongoing unrest.
“I spent 20 years in the military,” Congressman Tony Gonzales (R-TX) told <a href="https://x.com/RepTonyGonzales/status/1931746619201827272">CBS</a> on &#8220;Face The Nation.&#8221; “I fought in two wars. I fought to give people the freedom to protest whatever the hell they want to. But what we&#8217;re seeing in L.A. are not advocates. We&#8217;re seeing anarchists, and the President of the United States should absolutely put down the mob as soon as possible.”
<h2>Activists Create Anti-ICE Infrastructure</h2>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-931703" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_02_17_22.Still003-2.jpeg" alt="" width="640" height="360" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_02_17_22.Still003-2.jpeg 640w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_02_17_22.Still003-2-300x169.jpeg 300w" sizes=" (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" /></div>
Topline: The anti-ICE protests sweeping through the Los Angeles area are being promoted and organized by left-wing activist groups, including a prominent nonprofit that receives tens of millions of taxpayer dollars from California.
The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, or CHIRLA, has been identified as one of the key financial backers of the ongoing anti-ICE protests. <a href="https://x.com/LauraPowellEsq">Laura Powell</a>, civil liberties attorney and founder of Californians for Good Governance, told The Daily Wire that CHIRLA received $34 million from the state government in 2023, primarily from the California Social Services Department.
“There&#8217;s a rapid response network that was set up that is a coalition of various nonprofits, but [CHIRLA] seem[s] to be the central one because it&#8217;s their phone number that&#8217;s used as this hotline,” Powell said. “People on the street can call in to report when ICE is in the area and then they can deploy people to go to that area …and in some cases interfere with the officer&#8217;s work.”
In addition to tens of millions of dollars from the state government, CHIRLA received $450,000 from the Department of Homeland Security with the assistance of L.A. Democratic Mayor Karen Bass.
An investigation by Californians for Good Governance has also uncovered deep ties between CHIRLA and California’s Democratic establishment.
“Mayor Bass of Los Angeles is very connected to them. They&#8217;ve supported her. She&#8217;s bragged about helping them get federal funding in the past,” Powell told The Daily Wire. “They endorsed Kamala Harris, of course, Gavin Newsom, Adam Schiff. … They can&#8217;t directly endorse candidates because they&#8217;re a 501(c)(3), but they have a 501(c)(4) that they use for those candidate endorsements. They also sponsor a lot of legislation at the state level.”

MRN 6.10.25 Thumbnail V1

Morning Brief: L.A. Riot Round-Up

Gavin Newsom

Illegal Immigration

Los Angeles County

Maxine Waters

Media

Morning Wire

Politics

Some 700 United States Marines prepared to deploy to Los Angeles on Monday, gearing up to relieve some of the 2,000 National Guardsmen who had been in the city since the early morning hours on Sunday.
Just over one hour after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth publicly announced their mobilization, the U.S. Northern Command shared photos of the Marines who were preparing to go.
&#8220;Marines with 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, who were placed in an alert status over the weekend to support #USNORTHCOM mission, prepare to depart for the greater Los Angeles area June 9,&#8221; the caption read. The attached photos showed Marines preparing several tactical vehicles and some training with riot shields ahead of their deployment.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Approximately 700 Marines from Marine Corps Combat Center Twentynine Palms(<a href="https://twitter.com/MCAGCC29Palms?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MCAGCC29Palms</a>), California will seamlessly integrate with the Title 10 forces under Task Force 51 who are protecting federal personnel and federal property in the greater Los Angeles area
— U.S. Northern Command (@USNorthernCmd) <a href="https://twitter.com/USNorthernCmd/status/1932221572619608483?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 9, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Approximately 700 Marines from Marine Corps Combat Center Twentynine Palms(@MCAGCC29Palms), California will seamlessly integrate with the Title 10 forces under Task Force 51 who are protecting federal personnel and federal property in the greater Los Angeles area,&#8221; the follow-up post continued.
Hegseth announced their deployment as rioters continued to direct violent attacks at local law enforcement and federal agents — and destroy public and private property — despite President Donald Trump&#8217;s decision to mobilize the California National Guard.
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&#8220;Due to increased threats to federal law enforcement officers and federal buildings, approximately 700 active-duty U.S. Marines from Camp Pendleton are being deployed to Los Angeles to restore order. We have an obligation to defend federal law enforcement officers — even if Gavin Newsom will not,&#8221; Hegseth posted via X.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Due to increased threats to federal law enforcement officers and federal buildings, approximately 700 active-duty U.S. Marines from Camp Pendleton are being deployed to Los Angeles to restore order.
We have an obligation to defend federal law enforcement officers &#8211; even if Gavin…
— Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (@SecDef) <a href="https://twitter.com/SecDef/status/1932202105361612994?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 9, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Defense Department spokesman Sean Parnell followed with an update, saying that President Trump had ordered the deployment of another 2,000 California National Guard troops.
&#8220;At the order of the President, the Department of Defense is mobilizing an additional 2,000 California National Guard to be called into federal service to support ICE &amp; to enable federal law-enforcement officers to safely conduct their duties,&#8221; he posted.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
At the order of the President, the Department of Defense is mobilizing an additional 2,000 California National Guard to be called into federal service to support ICE &amp; to enable federal law-enforcement officers to safely conduct their duties.
— Sean Parnell (@SeanParnellATSD) <a href="https://twitter.com/SeanParnellATSD/status/1932230434810950021?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 10, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

An Oshkosh M-ATV Mine Resistant Ambush Protected all-terrain vehicle.

PHOTOS: U.S. Marines Prepare To Deploy To Los Angeles

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

The Trump administration deployed between 500 and 700 U.S. Marines to Los Angeles on Monday to assist the National Guard and local law enforcement as anti-ICE riots blew up in part of the city over the weekend.
CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/la-protests-ice-raids-trump-06-09-25#cmbpf2l0s00003b6mldlq5r1h">reported</a> that 500 Marines from the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in California were mobilized, while ABC News <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/live-updates/la-immigration-protests-live-updates-trump-deploys-2000/?id=122621279&amp;entryId=122667907">reported</a> that 700 Marines from the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines at Twentynine Palms, California, were sent into the city.
Just before the Marines&#8217; deployment was reported, Trump told ABC News, &#8220;We’ll see what happens&#8221; when asked about the possibility of sending them to L.A.
&#8220;I mean, I think we have it very well under control,&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;I think it would have been a very bad situation. It was heading in the wrong direction. It&#8217;s now heading in the right direction.&#8221;
On Saturday, Trump deployed the National Guard to the city, angering Democratic leaders such as Gov. Gavin Newsom and L.A. Mayor Karen Bass. Trump slammed Newsom and Bass for allowing the anti-ICE protests to turn into riots as federal, state, and local law enforcement officers were attacked by agitators slinging rocks and cement and shooting fireworks at them.
One person told CNN that the Marines are expected to relieve some of the 2,000 National Guard troops who have been in the city for two days now. Of the 2,000 National Guardsmen in L.A., only around 300 have been deployed to the streets. According to CNN, Defense Department lawyers are finalizing use-of-force guidelines for the Marines.
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Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on Saturday that &#8220;active duty Marines at Camp Pendleton&#8221; were standing ready on &#8220;high alert&#8221; in case of escalating violence. Newsom <a href="https://x.com/GavinNewsom/status/1931565409440088175">called</a> Hegseth&#8217;s statement &#8220;deranged behavior.&#8221; Newsom has argued that the riots have been sufficiently contained by state and local authorities, but President Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-says-newsom-bass-should-thank-him-for-deploying-national-guard-to-keep-our-citizens-safe?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=4&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+Says+Newsom%2C+Bass+Should+Thank+Him+For+Deploying+National+Guard+%E2%80%98To+Keep+Our+Citizens+SAFE%E2%80%99">said</a> on Monday that the city “would have been completely obliterated” without his action. Trump also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/i-would-do-it-trump-says-it-would-be-great-if-his-border-czar-arrested-newsom?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=2&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=%E2%80%98I+Would+Do+It%E2%80%99%3A+Trump+Says+It+Would+Be+%E2%80%98Great%E2%80%99+If+His+Border+Czar+Arrested+Newsom">told</a> reporters on Monday that it would be “great” if his border czar, Tom Homan, arrested Newsom.
“He’s done a terrible job,” the president said of Newsom. “Look, I like Gavin Newsom, he’s a nice guy, but he’s grossly incompetent.”
California <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/california-sues-trump-over-national-guard-deployment-says-president-manufactured-crisis">sued</a> the Trump administration over the president&#8217;s order to deploy the National Guard, alleging the president &#8220;is trying to manufacture chaos and crisis.&#8221; The lawsuit argues that Trump unconstitutionally called in the National Guard and infringed on Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom’s role without there being a clear threat of “invasion” or “rebellion.”
Newsom said that Trump&#8217;s move lays the groundwork for him to &#8220;send the military into ANY STATE HE WISHES.&#8221;

Protests Erupt In L.A.

Trump Deploys Hundreds Of Marines To Los Angeles

Immigration

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