Jimmy Kimmel sent his show’s crew into downtown Los Angeles to ask business owners whether they wanted to thank former President Donald Trump for sending federal troops and National Guard forces to the city, and most of the answers were negative.
The segment, which aired Wednesday, was framed around Trump’s claim that his actions — including deploying the National Guard to Washington, D.C., and dispatching federal forces to American cities — had helped restore business activity. Kimmel juxtaposed that claim with interviews in which proprietors said the security presence and related immigration enforcement activity did not help their businesses and, in some cases, made things worse. A federal judge this week ruled the deployment illegal.
Kimmel pointed to a clip of South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem praising the federal action, saying, “LA wouldn’t be standing today if President Trump hadn’t taken action,” and asserting that "small-business owners are thankful." The late-night host’s interviews largely contradicted that portrayal. Several business owners told the crew the presence of law enforcement and military personnel, and concurrent immigration enforcement operations, discouraged customers and disrupted daily commerce.
One man told the camera, "absolutely not," when asked if he was thankful. Another replied with an expletive, which the broadcast bleeped, and a third offered a sardonic, "Thank you for [bleep]-ing things up." Kimmel played longer excerpts of the exchanges later in the segment, including conversations with restaurateurs who said downtown foot traffic had declined following the deployments and enforcement actions.
The segment drew a direct line between the federal presence and economic pain in areas that rely on regular customer flow. Kimmel noted that the deployment was announced amid broader federal efforts to respond to unrest and to protect monuments and federal property, and he argued the operations had been used to bolster political messaging. His team sought to test whether business owners shared that view.
The deployment of federal forces and the use of the National Guard in American cities became a flashpoint during the summer, as administrations moved to address protests and law-and-order rhetoric. Federal agents were sent to several cities, including Washington and Portland, and the operations sparked legal challenges and local pushback. In Los Angeles, the federal presence coincided with immigration-enforcement actions, including raids by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Court rulings followed. This week, a federal judge declared aspects of federal deployments and some tactics unlawful, finding that certain actions by federal officers exceeded legal authority. The decision underscored tensions between federal initiatives and local officials and came as many business owners and community leaders voiced concern about the local economic and social effects of the operations.
The Kimmel segment reflects the political debate over the effectiveness and consequences of deploying federal forces to cities. Supporters have argued such deployments protected businesses and property; critics contend they can intimidate residents, deter customers and disproportionately affect immigrant communities. The on-the-street interviews in Los Angeles added anecdotal accounts from small-business owners who said the deployments did not deliver the benefits officials touted and, in some cases, contributed to declines in patronage.
Kimmel’s show is not a news outlet, and the segment mixed satirical commentary with man-on-the-street interviews. Still, the exchanges captured a snapshot of local sentiment that diverged from pro-deployment messaging from national figures. The show did include one on-camera expression of gratitude for the federal action, but the majority of people interviewed offered criticism or frustration.
The broader debate over the use of federal forces in U.S. cities is likely to continue in courts and in political discourse, as elected officials, business owners and residents weigh the trade-offs between security measures and their effects on everyday life and commerce.