John Oliver Slams Trump’s “Authoritarian” ICE Crackdown and Military Response to LA Protests

increasingly authoritarian approach to immigration enforcement and civil protests. Echoing concerns raised by other late-night hosts, Oliver zeroed in on the White House’s recent actions, including a controversial surge in ICE operations and the deployment of military forces in Los Angeles.

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The recent protests in Los Angeles were sparked by a wave of aggressive ICE raids led by White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller. Agents reportedly targeted vulnerable workers in locations such as a Home Depot parking lot, aiming to meet rising deportation quotas.

Oliver highlighted a clip from Trump’s speech at Fort Bragg, where he claimed that L.A. would be “on fire” like earlier Palisades and Eaton wildfires if not for the presence of thousands of National Guard troops and Marines. Oliver responded: “There is just no reason to bring up the traumatic fires still fresh in people’s minds — just as you wouldn’t begin a retirement toast by reminding everyone the next milestone is death.”

According to Oliver, the military deployment marked the first time since 1965 that such a federal move was made without approval from the state governor. “Despite the alarmist media coverage, the protests were confined to a relatively small area in downtown Los Angeles,” he said.

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While acknowledging isolated incidents, such as rock throwing and a few driverless Waymo cars being set ablaze, Oliver emphasized that these did not represent the protest movement. “Burning a driverless car isn’t the same as harming a person — unless we’re in the Cars universe, where burning one is murder, and you’re judged by the Car Pope,” he joked, referencing the Cars 2 character Pope Pinion IV.

Oliver also condemned the financial toll of Trump’s response, citing an estimated $134 million cost to taxpayers. “Normally, if we spend that much on something pointless, at least we get to see an Avenger,” he quipped, accompanied by images from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Beyond wasteful spending, Oliver noted that the so-called peacekeeping troops had been responsible for much of the unrest. Journalists were reportedly shot with rubber bullets, and Senator Alex Padilla was tackled and handcuffed. These actions, he argued, further demonstrated authoritarian tendencies.

“When people warned about a slippery slope toward authoritarianism under Trump — this is it,” Oliver declared. “Masked agents detaining people without due process and using the military to suppress protests is textbook authoritarianism.”

Despite the grim reality, Oliver expressed hope. The No Kings rallies drew more than five million people nationwide — even in Minnesota, which had recently endured politically motivated violence, including the assassination of a Democratic lawmaker.

“We’re living through a chapter in American history marked by cruelty, but hopefully also by courage and resistance,” Oliver concluded.

Closing the episode with a metaphor, he referenced a recent headline about a runaway zebra in Tennessee: “Think of this administration like a loose zebra in the suburbs. It makes you say ‘Oh no!’ a lot, but maybe — just maybe — we can contain it until the day it flies off into the f—ing sunset.”