The police chief says it creates logistical challenges for safely handling protests.

Additional protests against immigration raids are expected to continue in other cities on Tuesday (Wednesday AEST).

Trump said he isn’t worried about things getting out of hand with the military on the ground in Los Angeles.

Asked if he was concerned, Trump said, “No, it’s OK.”

How long will National Guard troops will stay in Los Angeles?

“Until there’s no danger,” Trump said. “When there’s no danger, they’ll leave.”

After persistent questioning from members of Congress on Tuesday, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth turned to his acting comptroller, Bryn Woollacott MacDonnell, who provided the amount it would cost to send the National Guard and Marines to immigration protests in Los Angeles.

Pentagon’s top financial officer said the $US134 million ($205 million), “which is largely just the cost of travel, housing and food”, will come from operations and maintenance accounts.

“We stated very publicly that it’s 60 days because we want to ensure that those rioters, looters and thugs on the other side assaulting our police officers know that we’re not going anywhere,” Hegseth told members of the House appropriations defence subcommittee.

Hegseth suggested the use of the National Guard for homeland defence will expand under Trump.

“I think we’re entering another phase, especially under President Trump with his focus on the homeland, where the National Guard and reserves become a critical component of how we secure that homeland,” Hegseth told lawmakers.

But during his Oval Office engagement with reporters, Trump said he wasn’t afraid to take the situation further and left open the possibility of invoking one the most extreme emergency powers available to a US president.

“If there’s an insurrection, I would certainly invoke it. We’ll see,” Trump said.

“But I can tell you last night was terrible, and the night before that was terrible.”

The Insurrection Act authorises the president to deploy military forces inside the United States to suppress rebellion or domestic violence or to enforce the law in certain situations.

Rep. David Valadao, a moderate Republican who represents much of the state’s San Joaquin Valley, urged for peaceful protest and said he was also concerned over how the Trump administration is conducting ICE raids in the Golden state.

“I support the First Amendment right to peacefully protest, but the violence and vandalism happening in Los Angeles is unacceptable and I stand with our law enforcement officers working to protect people and regain control over the situation,” Valadao wrote on social media.

“I remain concerned about ongoing ICE operations throughout CA and will continue my conversations with the administration—urging them to prioritise the removal of known criminals over the hardworking people who have lived peacefully in the Valley for years,” he added.

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who was press secretary in Trump’s first term, says she wouldn’t allow what’s happening in LA in her state.

She backs Trump sending the National Guard into Los Angeles without approval from California’s governor and was asked if she’d be OK with a similar move in her state.

“If we needed help, I would be making the phone call myself to the president and asking for his assistance,” she told reporters.

“But in Arkansas, we would never allow to take place what they’re letting to go on in California. But if we needed help, the president would be one of the first people I would call because he is somebody I know who cares deeply about making sure the American people are safe and secure first and foremost.”

Protests over federal immigration raids have sprung up in cities across the US in the past few days.

About 50 people gathered outside the immigration court in downtown Seattle on Tuesday, chanting with drums and holding up signs that said “Free Them All Abolish ICE” and “No to Deportations.”

Legal advocates who normally attend the immigration court hearings as observers and to provide support to immigrants were not allowed inside the building. Security guards also turned away the media.

The hearings are normally open to the public. Organisers said they were there solidarity with protesters in Los Angeles.

The protest was peaceful and there were no law-enforcement officers in the area in the morning.

Although most protests in other cities have been peaceful, with marchers chanting and carrying signs, some have resulted in dozens of arrests.

The demonstrations have ranged from gatherings outside of federal office buildings or state capitol buildings, and marches through the downtown of several major cities.

A series of so-called “No Kings” rallies were planned Saturday to coincide with President Trump’s scheduled military parade in Washington, DC.