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Los Angeles latest: Trump claims LA was 'under siege' and 'would be burning' if he hadn't sent in troops; protests expected to spread

Protests continue in LA, and are expected to spread across the US, as demonstrators demand the end of ICE immigration raids. Donald Trump has defended sending in the National Guard in California. Follow live updates below.

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Trump: LA protesters were 'paid insurrectionists'
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LA mayor holding news conference

LA mayor Karen Bass is giving a news conference on the protests in the city.

Trump warns protests at weekend parade will be met with 'very big force'

Donald Trump has warned people against protesting at the military parade in Washington DC this weekend.

The parade will mark the US army's 250th anniversary and will see tanks and other vehicles rolled down city streets in a reminder of how the president is reshaping the armed forces after returning to the White House this year. 

The parade also falls on Trump's 79th birthday.

Speaking to reporters earlier, he said: "For those people that want to protest, they're going to be met with very big force."

Yesterday, US secret service special agent in charge Matt McCool said thousands of agents, officers and specialists will be deployed from law enforcement agencies from across the country for the parade.

The FBI and the Metropolitan Police Department have said there are no credible threats to the event.

Trump boarding Air Force One

Donald Trump is boarding Air Force One and will be heading to Fort Bragg in North Carolina in the next few moments.

The president's motorcade arrived at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland following his comments to reporters in the Oval Office.

The US leader did not give any comments before he entered the plane.

Analysis: We could see more protests in other American cities

We could see more protests on the streets of other American cities as Donald Trump's immigration policies continue to be acted out, our US correspondent Mark Stone reports.

Stone says there is no evidence at this stage that the LA protesters were paid to protest.

"The focus of the protests - to which maybe some hardliner leftists have joined - has been Trump's immigration policies," he says.

Looking at Trump's mention of the Insurrection Act, Stone explains this would allow him to deploy the military, which he appears already to have done, but in a more "forceful way" and probably through the courts.

"That's if he can prove that what we are seeing is an insurrection. He didn't clarify how he would prove that," Stone says.

"What he and his homeland security chief said, is that they will continue to deploy the National Guard and perhaps the Marines as well.

"And they will do it in other states if necessary.

"I think we could be in for perhaps a summer of seeing this sort of thing on the streets of other American cities as Trump's immigration reforms and policies continue to be acted out."

Trump: Protesters are 'insurrectionists' and 'paid agitators'

The US leader goes on to say that by taking the action that he did, he "stopped the violence in Los Angeles".

"We did a great job. We stopped a disaster," he says.

Trump notes that protesters were carrying weapons and "throwing iced water in glass bottles at officers and soldiers".

He calls the protesters "insurrectionists" and "paid agitators" and adds: "They are very bad and dangerous people."

Governors unwilling to call National Guard in, Trump says

Donald Trump says he waited for governors to send in the National Guard after the riots began and they wouldn't do it.

"They just wouldn't do it," he says.

"The radical left - and it's usually governors that are Democratic - they don't want to call them in.

"They don't want to save lives and they don't want to call them in."

He again repeats if the National Guard was not called in, "Los Angeles would be burning to the ground".

Asked if the National Guard will be in California indefinitely, Trump replies they will stay there "until there is no danger."

"When there is no danger, they will leave," he adds.

Trump: Los Angeles was under siege until we got there

Donald Trump is speaking about the situation in Los Angeles and says "last night was terrible" and so was the night before that.

"People with big heavy hammers, pounding the concrete curbs," he says.

He says people were taking these "big chunks of concrete" and dropping it onto car roofs and on police.

"If we didn't get involved, Los Angeles would be burning. Los Angeles right now would be on fire and we have it in great shape," he says.

He says if the National Guard was not sent in "Los Angeles would be burning".

The US leader says they have in custody "some bad people".

He adds: "Los Angeles was under siege until we got there.

"The police were unable to handle it."

Watch live as Donald Trump speaks from Oval Office

The US president is due to leave the White House soon.

But keeping us on our toes, he's started speaking in the Oval Office.

We were expecting him to depart for Fort Bragg (see previous post).

Watch live at the top of this page to see what he has to say.

Trump to visit troops while facing criticism for deploying military in LA

Donald Trump plans to speak at Fort Bragg later today to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the US Army.

His speech comes as he deploys the military in an attempt to quiet immigration protests in Los Angeles.

Fort Bragg, located near Fayetteville, North Carolina, is home to some 50,000 active-duty soldiers.

Trump's visit comes ahead of a major parade in Washington on Saturday to celebrate the US Army's 250th anniversary.

Trump defends decision to deploy 5,000 troops

Earlier this afternoon, Donald Trump defended his decision to deploy almost 5,000 military personnel to Los Angeles in an attempt to quell protests against his administration's immigration raids.

Writing on Truth Social, the president said that LA "would be burning to the ground right now" if he hadn't made the order.

He continued to mock California Governor Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass as "incompetent" and a "total mess".