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As we reported earlier, about 200 marines have been deployed to Los Angeles and will be protecting a federal building from noon local time, Maj Gen Scott Sherman, said during a briefing:
I would like to emphasize that the soldiers will not participate in law enforcement activities.
He also added that so far, neither the marines nor the national guard troops there had temporarily detained anyone.
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Analysis: Trump scrambles to claim credit for Israel’s Iran attack he publicly opposed
Andrew Roth
Donald Trump is walking a tightrope as he claims that he was fully aware of Israel’s plans to launch massive airstrikes against Iran while continuing to distance the US from those strikes and deny Washington took any active role in the preparations.
The White House’s messaging has shifted quickly from Marco Rubio’s arms-length description of the Israeli attack as a “unilateral action”, to Trump claiming this morning that he was fully in the loop on the operation and that it came at the end of a 60-day ultimatum he had given Iran to “make a deal” on its nuclear programme.
“Today is day 61,” he wrote on Truth Social. “I told [Iran] what to do, but they just couldn’t get there.”
Trump’s framing presents a good cop-bad cop dynamic of his approach with Benjamin Netanyahu, the embattled Israeli leader with whom he has a notoriously combative relationship. The US president has scrambled to now present the Israeli strikes, which he publicly claimed he did not want on Thursday, as a means of continuing his efforts to convince Iran to negotiate.
“They should now come to the table to make a deal before it’s too late,” he said.
But the discordant US response from to the strikes, including Rubio’s Thursday evening statement, a hasty evacuation of some US personnel from the region and ambiguity over whether the US provided intelligence or would actively take part in Israel’s defence from a likely counterattack, has raised questions over whether Israel may have moved ahead of the Trump administration as a way to present Washington with a fait accompli.
CNN has more on that briefing, reporting that Sherman confirmed that at noon local time the two marine companies, part of the full battalion of 700 marines mobilized on Monday in response to the protests, will take over the role of protecting the Wilshire Federal Building, where national guard troops had been posted.
Per my last post they “will focus on the protection of federal property and personnel”, Sherman said, and will not be performing law enforcement activities.
The marines will also be equipped with “standard crowd control gear, which includes a helmet, their face shield, a shield, baton and gas masks”, he added.
The national guard members who were protecting the building will transition to protecting federal agents once the marines take over, Sherman said.
As we reported earlier, about 200 marines have been deployed to Los Angeles and will be protecting a federal building from noon local time, Maj Gen Scott Sherman, said during a briefing:
I would like to emphasize that the soldiers will not participate in law enforcement activities.
He also added that so far, neither the marines nor the national guard troops there had temporarily detained anyone.
Thousands of protests planned for Saturday across US
As we reported earlier, around 2,000 No Kings protests will be held across the country tomorrow, including in Chicago, Philadelphia, Atlanta, New York City, Minneapolis and Houston, with millions of people expected to attend in a “day of defiance” intended to divert attention away from the “spectacle” of tomorrow’s military parade in Washington DC.
There are also predictions of as many as 200,000 protestors at the parade itself, which coincides with Donald Trump’s birthday.
Women’s March is organizing what it says will be “the biggest protest circus in the country” to counter the military parade in Washington DC. “Tomorrow, we take the streets with creativity, courage, and chaos to call out the real clowns in power,” the group said in a Facebook post.
Delta Air Lines said it has paused flights to Tel Aviv from New York through 31 August due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East after Israel launched a huge wave of airstrikes across Iran. Tehran has called the strikes “a declaration of war”.
Trump says 'we knew everything' about Israel’s strike on Iran
Further to the Wall Street Journal’s report earlier, Donald Trump has said “we knew everything” about Israel’s strikes on Iran. Israel’s prime minister also said a short while ago that the US had advanced warning of its attack on Iran.
Trump told Reuters in a phone interview that it was unclear if Iran still has a nuclear program following Israeli strikes on the country, and said he was unsure if planned nuclear talks schedule for Sunday with Iran would still take place.
He said it was not too late for Iran to make a deal.
I tried to save Iran humiliation and death.
He also said he is not concerned about a regional war breaking out as a result of Israel’s strikes.
My colleague Hayden Vernon is blogging all the latest on this over on our Middle East blog:
Israel used US equipment in Iran attack, says Trump, adding 'maybe now' Iran will agree a nuclear deal – Axios
Israel used “great American equipment” during its attack on Iran, Donald Trump has told Axios in an interview today.
Trump said that Iran now has a stronger incentive to agree on a nuclear deal after Israel’s strikes, Axios reports.
“I couldn’t get them to a deal in 60 days. They were close, they should have done it. Maybe now it will happen,” Axios quotes the president as saying.
US gave regional allies heads up on Israel's planned attack on Iran – Reuters
The US state department informed a number of regional allies in the Middle East of Israel’s looming strike on Iran hours before the attack took place, three sources familiar with the matter have told Reuters.
In a diplomatic note sent out on Thursday afternoon, the state department confirmed that the Israeli attack was set to take place late on Thursday. Qatar was among the countries which received the heads up.
Washington was not involved in Israel’s operation and was not providing any support, the note said, adding that Donald Trump has been very clear on his desire for peace in the region but at the same time has been firm that Tehran cannot be allowed to obtain nuclear weapons.
The state department did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
About 200 marines have moved into Los Angeles, says official
US marines have moved into Los Angeles and will take over protecting federal property and personnel, according to Maj Gen Scott Sherman, who is overseeing the 4,700 troops deployed.
About 200 marines have moved into the city so far, Sherman told reporters on Friday. He said the marines would take over their operations at noon local time in downtown Los Angeles.
He added that so far, neither the marines nor the national guard troops there had temporarily detained anyone.
US warns citizens to depart Iran immediately amid threat of additional military strikes
The US state department has issued a security warning instructing US citizens not to travel to Iran for any reason and to depart Iran immediately. The warning states:
US citizens in Iran face serious, increasing dangers due to rising regional tensions.
It also warned of missiles, drones or rockets flying over Iraq and said Iraq has suspended air traffic at all airports and closed its airspace. The warning states:
Due to regional events, there are indications there may be missiles, drones, or rockets flying over Iraqi airspace. In the event of such an incident seek overhead cover and shelter in place. Do not expose yourself to falling debris.
Kilmar Ábrego García pleads not guilty to human trafficking charges
We reported earlier that Kilmar Ábrego García, the man whom the Trump administration wrongly deported from Maryland to El Salvador in March, appeared in a Tennessee court today to face criminal charges.
Ábrego García, who faces criminal charges of taking part in a conspiracy to smuggle migrants into the US, has now pleaded not guilty.
He is also expected to contest a bid by federal prosecutors to have him detained pending trial.
Ábrego García – a 29-year-old Salvadorian whose wife and young child in Maryland are US citizens – was deported by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) officials and held in the so-called Center for Terrorism Confinement, a controversial mega-prison better known as Cecot.
Before the hearing began in Nashville, his wife told a crowd that she had seen him for the first time on Thursday since the Trump administration “abducted and disappeared my husband and separated him from our family” three months ago.
“Kilmar wants you to have faith,” she told the crowd, as she asked people supporting him and his family “to continue fighting, and I will be victorious because God is with us”.
California governor Gavin Newsom’s office expressed concern that the data of millions of Medicaid enrollees would be used for immigration raids supported by the national guard troops and marines deployed by Donald Trump in Los Angeles.
“We deeply value the privacy of all Californians,” a statement by the governor’s office reads.
This potential data transfer brought to our attention by the AP is extremely concerning, and if true, potentially unlawful, particularly given numerous headlines highlighting potential improper federal use of personal information and federal actions to target the personal information of Americans.
