Los Angeles was “safe and sound for the last two nights”, United States President Donald Trump said on Thursday morning, as he hailed troops for helping to restore order in the city after days of anti-deportation protests.

“Our great National Guard, with a little help from the Marines, put the LA Police in a position to effectively do their job,” Trump said on Truth Social, adding that without the military, the city “would be a crime scene like we haven’t seen in years”.

The mostly peaceful protests ignited last week over a sudden escalation in efforts to apprehend migrants in the country illegally. But there were also pockets of violence, including the burning of self-driving taxis and hurling stones at police.

Trump deployed several thousand National Guard troops and some 700 active-duty Marines over the objections of Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom, the first such action by a US president in decades.

In his post, Trump said Newsom “had totally lost control of the situation”.

“He should be saying thank you … instead of trying to justify his mistakes and incompetence!!!” the president added.

Similar protests also ignited in other cities across the United States, as California prepared on Thursday for a legal showdown over Trump’s deployment of the military.

A second night of curfew was in place as city leaders tried to get a handle on the after-dark vandalism and looting that scarred a few city blocks in the 1,300 square kilometres metropolis.