Trump dealt court blow as LA National Guard deployment temporarily blocked

A federal judge on Thursday night temporarily blocked President Donald Trump from deploying the National Guard to Los Angeles after expressing skepticism over the administration's arguments.

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer issued a temporary restraining order following a hearing in San Francisco court, writing in his ruling that the court concluded the plaintiffs "demonstrated that the balance of equities tips in their favor and that an injunction restraining the President's use of military force in Los Angeles is in the public interest."

Breyer had expressed serious doubts about the legality of Trump’s deployment, particularly over whether the order had been properly issued "through" California Gov. Gavin Newsom as required by law. In the order, the Trump administration was directed to "return control of the California National Guard to Governor Newsom."

The order was paused until noon Friday, allowing the administration to appeal.

California's attorney general had sued to stop the deployment, accusing the Trump administration of failing to properly follow laws that allow the government to federalize the state's National Guard.