<div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" data-testid="companionColumn-0"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">Vice President JD Vance watched with pride on Saturday as Marines <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/18/us/artillery-interstate-5-marines.html" title="">fired 155-millimeter artillery shells</a> over a major freeway in Southern California, calling the demonstration a “testament to the corps’ strength and unbeatable power.”</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">Gavin Newsom, the Democratic governor of the state, deemed it an “absurd show of force” and “dangerous.”</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">Mr. Vance used a speech in front of hundreds of Marines to attack Democrats over the government shutdown, referring to the impasse as the “Schumer shutdown,” a dig at Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the minority leader. Throughout the day, protesters filled streets in American cities, including nearby Los Angeles and San Diego, lambasting the Trump administration’s domestic agenda and its consolidation of power.</p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div><div data-testid="ImageBlock-1"><div data-testid="imageblock-wrapper"><figure aria-label="media" class="img-sz-medium css-mqw7kw e1g7ppur0" role="group"><div class="css-1xdhyk6 erfvjey0" data-testid="photoviewer-children-figure"><span class="kyt-mdd4r">Image</span><div class="css-nwd8t8" data-testid="lazy-image"><div data-testid="lazyimage-container" style="height:257.77777777777777px"></div></div></div><figcaption class="css-gbc9ki ewdxa0s0" data-testid="photoviewer-children-caption"><span class="css-jevhma e13ogyst0">Marines performed exercises at Camp Pendleton as part of a commemoration of the Marine Corps’ 250th birthday.</span><span class="css-14fe1uy e1z0qqy90"><span class="kyt-mdd4r">Credit...</span><span><span aria-hidden="false">Oliver Contreras/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images</span></span></span></figcaption></figure></div></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" data-testid="companionColumn-1"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">What the White House had initially planned as a commemoration of the Marines’ 250th birthday became half of a revealing split-screen: As the likely heir of Mr. Trump’s political movement showcased the power of the military over the objections of a state governor, thousands of people across the country protested a president they accused of using his power like a king.</p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div><div data-testid="Dropzone-3"></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" data-testid="companionColumn-2"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">The overlapping events amounted to a snapshot of the fractured state of American society and of the rising tensions between the federal government and Democratic leaders, who have clashed repeatedly with Mr. Trump in recent months over his use of the military in domestic affairs.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">“The values Americans cherish are under assault by” Mr. Trump, Mr. Newsom said in a social media post on Saturday. He said California would continue “peacefully pushing back against the Trump Administration’s authoritarian takeover.”</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">Mr. Vance’s aides accused Mr. Newsom of stoking fear, saying the Marine Corps had determined that the exercise at Camp Pendleton did not pose a threat. “It’s pretty shocking that Gavin Newsom knows so little about what goes on at one of the most important military installations in his state,” said William Martin, Mr. Vance’s communications director.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">Mr. Newsom said that he simply wanted more communication about the plans. State officials said they had barely received any information about the demonstration from federal officials, and that were told earlier in the week that the demonstration would not involve firing munitions across the freeway.</p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div><div data-testid="Dropzone-5"></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" data-testid="companionColumn-3"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">While the Trump administration argued that the exercise was routine, representatives for the Marine Corps did not answer questions about how many times it had previously fired live munitions over the California freeway.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">Before the M777 howitzers fired from Red Beach at Camp Pendleton, California officials closed Interstate 5, the heavily traveled corridor between Los Angeles and San Diego, for hours. The state said it had made the decision because of potential hazards from the demonstration.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">The Marines initially planned to fire multiple rounds from Red Beach east over the highway. But the exercise was eventually scaled back, effectively a compromise amid the dispute between federal and state officials.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">During his speech, Mr. Vance, who served a tour in Iraq and worked in media relations in the Marine Corps, said that the entirety of the demonstration — the live ammunition, the parachuters descending from the sky, the Navy seals swimming ashore, the F35 jets flying overhead — made his “heart sing as your vice president.”</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">He praised the storied history of the Marines. But as Mr. Trump <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/30/us/politics/trump-speech-military-takeaways.html" title="">has</a> <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/us/politics/trump-navy-portland-troops.html" title="">done</a> in military addresses in recent months, he leaned eagerly into politics, casting the troops as victims of a progressive cultural agenda.</p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div><div data-testid="Dropzone-7"></div><div data-testid="ImageBlock-8"><div data-testid="imageblock-wrapper"><figure aria-label="media" class="img-sz-medium css-d754w4 e1g7ppur0" role="group"><div class="css-1xdhyk6 erfvjey0" data-testid="photoviewer-children-figure"><span class="kyt-mdd4r">Image</span><div class="css-nwd8t8" data-testid="lazy-image"><div data-testid="lazyimage-container" style="height:257.77777777777777px"></div></div></div><figcaption class="css-gbc9ki ewdxa0s0" data-testid="photoviewer-children-caption"><span class="css-jevhma e13ogyst0">Criticizing Democrats, Mr. Vance pledged that the Trump administration would ensure troops were paid during the government shutdown.</span><span class="css-14fe1uy e1z0qqy90"><span class="kyt-mdd4r">Credit...</span><span><span aria-hidden="false">Mike Blake/Reuters</span></span></span></figcaption></figure></div></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" data-testid="companionColumn-4"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">He questioned the military diversity programs the Trump administration had gutted. “It is not our diversity that makes us stronger. It is our common purpose,” Mr. Vance said.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">Criticizing Democrats, Mr. Vance pledged that the administration would ensure troops were paid during the government shutdown, after Mr. Trump directed the Defense Department to use “all available funds” to do so, a short-term fix that does not apply to hundreds of thousands of other federal employees.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">“He wanted me to tell each and every single one of you that he’s proud of you, that he loves you, and that despite the Schumer shutdown, he is going to do everything he can to make sure you get paid exactly as you deserve,” Mr. Vance said, referring to Mr. Trump.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">Mr. Vance, appearing to recognize the boundaries he was testing, added: “I know we’re here to talk about the Marine Corps. But I have got to get just a little political. Because congressional Democrats seem to want to keep the government shut down even though it would mean that a lot of you would not get your paycheck.”</p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div><div data-testid="Dropzone-10"></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" data-testid="companionColumn-5"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">David Nelson, a former captain and lawyer in the Marines, called Mr. Vance’s speech detailing the history of the corps “stirring,” saying it had made him feel proud that he had joined the Marines in 1965. But he noted that the speech was delivered close to Los Angeles, where Mr. Trump <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/21/us/marines-los-angeles-withdraw-trump.html" title="">had deployed hundreds of Marines</a> earlier this year following protests over immigration raids.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">“Since the primary purpose of the Marine Corps is to protect our country against foreign enemies, I do hope that Marines are not relegated to assisting with local law enforcement activities, potentially pitting U.S. Marines against Americans,” said Mr. Nelson, who watched the speech on television.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">North of the Red Beach demonstration area of Camp Pendleton, where the sound of military helicopters smothered the noise of rolling breakers, Sara Kennedy, a longtime San Clemente resident, wondered why Mr. Vance was overseeing the military exercise when long-term pay for federal workers remained in jeopardy.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">“It’s frustrating that we’re having to live through this type of time where it seems like peoples’ lives don’t matter, for a show,” said Ms. Kennedy, 41.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">Larry St Marie, 77, a retired longshoreman and Vietnam War veteran who lives in San Clemente, did come out to see the military show on Saturday. He said he had noticed a decline in “flag wavers” as the country had become more polarized.</p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div><div data-testid="Dropzone-12"></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" data-testid="companionColumn-6"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">He found himself questioning how the country — and the government — had reached such a divisive state, he added.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">“It’s crazy why we’re in this position,” Mr. St Marie said. “Doesn’t make sense to me. It should have never got to this point.”</p><p class="css-798hid etfikam0">John Ismay<!-- --> contributed reporting.</p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div>