Anti-migrant raids, Trump wins on appeal: 'Can deploy National Guard'

Donald Trump wins on the merits on appeal in the legal tug-of-war with California's Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, over the US president's deployment of the National Guard at protests in Los Angeles over anti-migrant raids. An appeals court overturned the decision of a lower court, according to which the commander in chief had acted illegally when he activated the soldiers, despite opposition from the governor of the Golden State.

Instead, in second instance the judges concluded that 'it is likely that the president lawfully exercised his statutory authority' in federalising control of the National Guard. The three-judge panel - two of them appointed by Trump - also ruled that even if the federal government had not informed the governor of California before deploying the National Guard as required by law, Newsom did not have veto power over the US president's order.

The case could have wider implications for the White House chief's power to deploy soldiers to the US, after Trump ordered immigration officials to prioritise deportations from other Democrat-led cities.