Three Unprecedented Stories in 24 Hours
Marines on LA’s streets, tanks for Trump's birthday. Pandora's box opens in the Middle East. And the weekly News Quiz.
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Happy Friday and thanks for the kind notes about my health and well being. I remain on this medical adventure, but the docs say there's nothing life-threatening or even grave — just a medical mystery for now. Those of you following my Instagram saga will have noticed the radio silence since Tuesday. I remain locked out, with the powers that be assuring me "they're working on it." Perhaps the universe is suggesting a social media sabbatical.
A brief caveat: I have a procedure on Monday which may or may not put me out of commission for the day. With news moving at its usual breakneck pace, I'll try to get you a newsletter, but if I don't, you now know why.
Today brings us three major stories, each so unprecedented that any one would typically dominate the headlines. We start with the military parade planned for Washington this weekend, the arrival of US Marines in Los Angeles today — a sight the US has not seen in decades — and Israel's surprise, ferocious strikes on Iran, plus Iran's reprisals.
We've also partnered with a new polling firm, TrueDot, to better gauge American public opinion on a variety of topics. Today we include some striking findings on Americans' opinions on deploying US troops at protests.
Two Visions of America:
Who’s Tradition: For the first time in centuries, America’s capital tomorrow will host a major military parade for reasons other than a victory celebration or presidential inauguration. Instead, Trump’s parade marks the 250th birthday of the US Army — and, perhaps by coincidence, the 79th birthday of Donald Trump. As troops are being deployed across the country to quell peaceful protests, seven million pounds of military hardware will roll down the streets of DC. Also on display: Several thousand troops, hundreds of vehicles (including tanks), dozens of aircraft, and more.
Apolitical? The army is supposed to be nonpartisan and under civilian control. Critics, including veterans, worry the timing and scale of this parade sends the wrong message — and is perhaps even meant to strike fear in protesters around the country. “For us to be projecting this type of hard power, in such a real in-your-face way, that’s just not who we are,” one veteran told PBS.
Price Tag: The parade is expected to cost up to $45 million — possibly more. Some officials have reportedly said it could cost up to $100 million. That includes millions to repair streets that will likely be damaged by heavy vehicles. Trump claimed the cost is “peanuts compared to the value of doing it.”
Value: 60% of Americans think the parade is not a good use of government funds, according to a recent AP poll. (The same percent disapprove of Trump’s job as president.) “I’d rather see that $50 million take care of the men and women who went off to war and came back with missing arms, legs, and eyeballs,” another veteran told PBS.
Potential for Inflation: Plans for a similar parade during Trump’s first term were scrapped after officials estimated it could cost up to $100 million.
Rejecting Royalty: Organizers of tomorrow’s “No Kings” protests estimate that there will be about 2,000 protests across the country, with additional protests planned in other countries around the world. “For the people that want to protest” in DC, Trump said, “they’re going to be met with very big force.”
Inspiration: Trump has characterized the parade as a celebration of America’s strength. “We want to show off a little bit,” he recently said. He seems to have been inspired by France’s 2017 Bastille Day parade; Trump heaped praise on the event, saying “we’re going to have to try and top it.”
Who’s Tradition? Military parades are generally frowned on in the US. When Trump proposed one during his first term, then-Defense Secretary James Mattis said he would rather “swallow acid” and stalwart supporters like Sen. Lindsey Graham rejected the idea as a “sign of weakness.” Past presidents thought similarly; President Dwight Eisenhower dismissed parade proposals, seeing them as weak imitations of Soviet shows of force.
Against Tradition, and Maybe the Law: For the first time in decades, active-duty U.S. Marines are patrolling the streets of a major American city — a rare and legally fraught move that breaks sharply with U.S. tradition. Today hundreds of Marines entered Los Angeles, and together with federalized National Guard troops are backing up ICE agents and surrounding protest sites. Maj. Gen. Scott Sherman said soldiers “will not participate in law enforcement activities,” and claimed neither Marines nor National Guard troops have made any arrests. They will only “hold people away as the federal agents are doing their job.” One US civilian has already been detained and released by Marines.
Protest Zone: The protests in LA remain mostly peaceful, though some people were arrested for breaking curfew, which Mayor Karen Bass said will likely continue for “a few more days.” The curfew applies to the one mile protest zone.
The Law: Under the Posse Comitatus Act, active-duty troops are barred from performing police functions — like arrests, surveillance, or crowd control — unless that law is invoked. It hasn’t been. The deployment marks a dramatic escalation in the president’s response to largely peaceful protests and has heightened tensions between federal and state leaders.
Legal Whiplash: Two courts gave differing orders yesterday about the status of the troops. First, a federal judge found that the protests in Los Angeles fall “far short of rebellion,” and therefore Trump violated the law when he deployed the California National Guard over Gov. Gavin Newsom’s objections. The judge ordered the Guard returned to the Governor’s control. But just hours later, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals froze that ruling and left Trump in command of the Guard. That means the 4000 National Guard members remain under Trump’s control, at least until the appeals court hears arguments in this case on Tuesday.
Low Morale: Some members of this audience who are former Marines or partnered with Marines describe their deployment on US streets as “horrifying” and “insanity.” Several of you have told me of Marines who want to sit this out but can’t afford to get in trouble. A Marine veteran and head of the Vet Voice Foundation told the Guardian that many feel “the Marines are being used as political pawns” and “some were concerned that the Marines were being set up for failure” because the Marines are not “necessary” in this situation.
Strange Kind of Protection: You might have seen this video from LA going viral. Law enforcement officers were filmed shooting an unarmed woman point-blank, presumably with a non-lethal round, as she walked alone near her residence. In the video, you can see a woman approach a crowd of armed officers; after shouting some commands, one of the officers appears to fire at the woman, who staggers back. Another woman, who filmed the incident, rushes up to help the victim, who is crying in pain and saying, “I live here.”
Senatorial Treatment: While we are talking about shocking actions, this week federal agents aggressively forced California’s senior Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA) to the ground, handcuffed him, and removed him from a Department of Homeland Security news conference. “I’m Senator Alex Padilla,” he can be heard saying in video footage, as a group of men shoved him back away from Secretary Kristi Noem. “I have questions for the secretary,” Padilla says, before being handcuffed and forced out of the room. Administration officials accused Padilla of failing to properly identify himself and intentionally causing a scene. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) — who heckled Biden’s State of the Union addresses in 2022, 2023, and 2024 — called for Sen. Padilla to be “prosecuted” for his actions. Other Republicans seem uneasy with Padilla’s treatment: He said two senators reached out to him, and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) said “it is shocking at every level. It’s not the America I know.” “If this is how this administration responds to a senator with a question,” Padilla said, “you can only imagine what they’re doing to farm workers, to cook, to day laborers … throughout the country.”
New Polling Partnership: For many who are left of center, the use of federal troops in LA is a worrying sign of rising authoritarianism. But that view is far from universally held. We partnered with new polling firm TrueDot to get a snapshot of American opinion on these dramatic moves. New polling for News Not Noise finds 64% of Americans are watching the LA protests at least somewhat closely — but they couldn’t be further apart on what should happen next.
When it comes to deploying federal troops to protests in LA:
60% of Republicans say it's justified.
63% of Democrats say it’s an overreaction and escalates tensions.
27% of independents say the level of violence warrants a federal response while 36% of Independents say it’s an overreaction that escalates tensions.
Notably only 16% of independents are paying “very close” attention to the protests, far less than Democrats or Republicans.
The results suggest that Americans are seeing two wildly different versions of the same reality and those without a strong political opinion are largely disengaged. For public sentiment to coalesce, independents will need to engage — or one side’s narrative will have to gain enough traction to move the middle.
Note: This data comes from the TrueDot TrendLine national survey, conducted online from June 10 to 12, among 1,000 U.S. adults. The results have a modeled error margin of +/- 3.2 percentage points.
We will bring you more results from the TrueDot survey, including American opinion on Trump’s deportation program, next week.
The divide over the protests is stark—and it shows up clearly in the headlines. Left-leaning outlets are outraged over Trump’s use of troops. Above the Law ran: “An Arrest By Any Other Name Would Smell As Much A Violation Of The Posse Comitatus Act.” Meanwhile, right-leaning sources are focused on what they call riots. American Greatness reports: “700 Marines, Thousands More National Guard Troops Deployed to LA to Quell Anti-ICE Riots.” You can explore this kind of polarized coverage—on the protests, the Trump military parade, the strike on Iran, and more—on Ground News. Their app and website show how stories are reported across the political spectrum, pulling from local, national, and international sources. I use Ground News to quickly and consistently understand how the same facts are framed by different outlets. They’re offering the News Not Noise community 40% off their all-access Vantage subscription. Just go to GroundNews.com/NNN.
Israel & Iran
Looming Conflict: After years of threats, warnings, and covert buildup, Israel struck Iran’s nuclear program overnight in a bold, sweeping attack. The goal: to cripple Iran’s nuclear capabilities, which Israel considers an existential threat to its survival. In a video, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the attacks are just beginning, and addressed “the proud people of Iran,” essentially calling on them to overthrow the “Islamic regime which has oppressed you for decades,” saying Israel has “cleared a path,” and “this is your opportunity to stand up.” From the US, President Trump warned Iran to reach a deal over its nuclear program “before there is nothing left.”
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