Hey, everybody. So in light of the situation unfolding in Los Angeles, I thought it would be worth

doing a midweek episode. So today we're going to talk about Donald Trump federalizing the National Guard

and also deploying hundreds of U.S. Marines to descend upon L.A. in an escalation that was not only

unnecessary, but explicitly intended to inflame tensions across the city. And importantly, what it

means not just for the people of L.A., but Americans across the U.S.

I'm Brian Tyler Cohen, and you're listening to No Lie.

All right, so first and foremost, why did Trump do this?

Because he needed a distraction.

It's a distraction from his feud with Elon, who exposed his budget bill

as a farce and then basically called him a pedophile. It's a distraction from his reconciliation

bill, which will strip health care away from 13.7 million Americans and cut food assistance

to the tune of $300 billion and explode the deficit to the tune of trillions. It's a distraction

from his spate of court losses.

Stanford released an analysis showing that the Trump administration has lost a staggering 96% of court cases.

And it's a distraction from Trump's fast-sinking poll numbers, even on issues that he and Republicans are historically strong on, like immigration and the economy.

So he needed to gin up some controversy, and so he found an easy target, a big blue city in a

big blue state, led by the boogeyman of all boogeyman Gavin Newsom, and he sent ICE in to

terrorize not the hardened criminals like he promised, but the hardworking immigrants that

make this city and this country what it is.

Look, I live here. I've lived here for 15 years.

Our immigrant population in L.A. is not just a benefit to this city.

It is integral to this city.

...