Pentagon Official Estimates Trump Will Spend $134 Million to Deploy Troops to LA Protests

A Pentagon official confirmed that it will cost the Defense Department approximately $134 million to deploy Marines and the National Guard to Los Angeles.

Following days of unrest in the city in response to recent immigration raids, President Donald Trump federalized and deployed the National Guard to LA. He later even sent the U.S. Marine Corps to bring an end to the chaos. That decision has been met with a great deal of pushback among his critics — including California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) — who is suing Trump for deploying the National Guard without his consent.

During a budgetary hearing on Tuesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was repeatedly asked about the cost of the deployments to LA. He was first grilled by Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN), who asked if the resources took away from other operations.

Later on in the hearing, Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-CA) asked for a specific number.

“What is the estimated cost of the deployment for the Guard and the Marines to LA?” Aguilar said, “And where’s this funding coming from? Will it be coming from quality-of-life programs that affect our service members or families — if you wanna wait until I finish my question — such as updates to housing and barracks?”

Hegseth first called the line of questioning “disingenuous” before handing it over to Special Assistant to the Secretary of Defense Bryn MacDonnell.

“So, the current estimated cost is $134 million,” MacDonnell said, “which is largely just TDY costs — travel, housing, food, etcetera.”

Watch the clip above.