Trump pledges to 'liberate Los Angeles' amid immigration raid unrest

US President Donald Trump strongly denounced immigration protests in Los Angeles, California, pledging to "liberate" the city.

"What you're witnessing in California is a full-blown assault on peace, on public order and on national sovereignty, carried out by rioters bearing foreign flags with the aim of continuing a foreign invasion of our country," he said Tuesday at a military demonstration at Fort Bragg in North Carolina..

Trump defended his decision to deploy National Guard troops and US Marines to Los Angeles and argued that if he didn't, the city would “be burning, just like it was burning a number of months ago with all the houses that were lost," referencing January wildfires.

He also called the protestors "animals" who "proudly carry the flags of other countries."

"But they don't carry the American flag. They only burn it," he said, noting that "people that burned the American flag should go to jail for one year."

"We'll see if we can get that done," he added.

Trump also denounced protestors allegedly attacking federal agents and said: "We will not allow an American city to be invaded and conquered by a foreign enemy."

Calling California Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass "incompetent" as well as "paid troublemakers, agitators and insurrectionists," he accused them of being engaged in an attempt to "nullify federal law and aid the occupation of the city by criminal invaders."

Trump continued by saying that Los Angeles "has gone from being one of the cleanest, safest and most beautiful cities on Earth to being a trash heap with entire neighborhoods under the control of transnational gangs and criminal networks."

"We will liberate Los Angeles and make it free, clean and safe again," he pledged, saying it is "happening very quickly."

He further vowed to "use every asset" to overcome "the violence and restore law and order right away."

Trump's remarks came at Fort Bragg, where the US Army hosted its birthday kick-off event ahead of this weekend's military parade in Washington, DC.

Speaking behind a bullet proof glass screen, he praised the military's strength and readiness.

"As part of our One Big Beautiful Bill, we are also investing over $1 billion to update your on-base housing, and we're building a state-of-the-art missile defense shield to protect our homeland," he said.

Trump also announced that he is restoring the names of military bases to "Fort Pickett, Fort Hood, Fort Gordon, Fort Rucker, Fort Polk, Fort A.P. Hill and Fort Robert E Lee."

"We won a lot of battles out of those forts," he added.