President Donald Trump has accused California Governor Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass of paying "troublemakers, agitators, and insurrectionists," accusing them of "attempt to nullify federal law".
Trump made the remarks as he was celebrating soldiers in North Carolina on Tuesday.
Trump also claimed Los Angeles was being invaded by a "foreign enemy."
"We will not allow an American city to be invaded and conquered by a foreign enemy," Trump told troops at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, speaking about the protests, which were sparked by immigration raids.
"What you're witnessing in California is a full-blown assault on peace, on public order and national sovereignty, carried out by rioters bearing foreign flags with the aim of continuing a foreign invasion of our country."
Trump's visit to Fort Bragg, home to some 50,000 active-duty soldiers, for long-scheduled commemorations of the US Army's 250th anniversary followed his move to deploy 700 Marines and 4,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles in an escalating response to street protests over his immigration policies.
The Republican president defended the decision to reporters, saying it was needed to protect federal property and personnel.
California's Democratic-led government has said the move is an abuse of power and an unnecessary provocation.
Street demonstrations in Southern California have been underway since Friday, when activists clashed with sheriff's deputies.
In North Carolina, Trump addressed troops after he and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth watched soldiers demonstrate a special forces assault on a building and use a long-range missile launcher on base.
It was the first in a series of celebrations of the Army anniversary involving Trump, ahead of a major parade in Washington on Saturday.
Los Angeles protests
Trump on Tuesday warned against demonstrations against that parade, telling reporters "they're going to be met with very big force." The FBI and the Metropolitan Police Department have said there are no credible threats to the event.
The week's Army commemorations combine Trump's penchant for patriotic pomp and his political positioning as a law-and-order president. Saturday's celebrations in Washington include thousands of troops, dozens of military aircraft and coincide with Trump's 79th birthday.
The Army was established on June 14, 1775, more than a year before the Declaration of Independence.
Earlier this year, Trump restored the name Fort Bragg to the base, one of the largest in the world, despite a federal law that prohibits honoring generals who fought for the South during the Civil War. His administration says the name now honors a different Bragg - Private First Class Roland Bragg, who served during World War Two.
In 2023, the base had been renamed Fort Liberty, a change driven by racial justice protests.
Since launching his second term in office in January, Trump has made the military a focus of his efforts, with his defense secretary working to purge transgender service members, top officials appointed under his Democratic predecessor and even books deemed out of step.
The president's cost-cutting government reforms have largely spared the Defense Department's nearly $1 trillion annual budget. He has pledged to avoid international conflict while launching new weapons programs and increasing the use of the military domestically, including in immigration enforcement.
Trump has pledged to deport record numbers of people who are in the country “illegally” and to lock down the US-Mexico border, setting the ICE border enforcement agency a daily goal of arresting at least 3,000 irregular migrants.
Demonstrators in Los Angeles have assembled, among other places, at a government facility where immigrants are detained.
