logo
Trump backpedals on Mexico, Canada tariffs

Trump backpedals on Mexico, Canada tariffs

USA Today07-03-2025

Trump backpedals on Mexico, Canada tariffs | The Excerpt
On Friday's episode of The Excerpt podcast: USA TODAY White House Correspondent Joey Garrison discusses President Donald Trump's postponement of new tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico that fall under the three nations' free trade deal. President Trump's sweeping freeze on federal funding has been hit with another legal blow. A deadline looms to avoid a government shutdown. SpaceX's Starship rocket broke up during its eighth uncrewed flight test. USA TODAY National Correspondent Elizabeth Weise discusses a rapid decline in the U.S. butterfly population.
Have feedback on the show? Please send us an email at podcasts@USATODAY.com.
Hit play on the player below to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript beneath it. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.
Podcasts: True crime, in-depth interviews and more USA TODAY podcasts right here
Cody Godwin:
Good morning. I'm Cody Godwin in for Taylor Wilson. Today is Friday, March 7th, 2025. This is The Excerpt. Today, Trump postponed the newly imposed tariffs on Canada and Mexico, plus the US has one week to pass legislation to prevent a government shutdown, and why scientists are concerned about the population of butterflies in the US.

There's a new twist to the tariff saga, as President Donald Trump yesterday took executive action, postponing new tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico that fall under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement for one month. Taylor Wilson spoke with USA TODAY White House correspondent Joey Garrison for the latest, with Joey joining us directly from the White House.
Taylor Wilson:
Hello, Joey.
Joey Garrison:
Hey, thanks for having me.
Taylor Wilson:
Thanks for hopping on, Joey. So we have another tariff reversal here, Joey. What is the latest?
Joey Garrison:
On Wednesday, President Trump announced that he would be exempting auto imports from Canada and Mexico from these newly imposed 25% tariffs. And then on Thursday, that went further, by exempting all products that are part of the 2020 United States-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement. That was an agreement that was orchestrated by Trump during his first administration.
So what that effectively does is it shields, carves out about half of the imports from Mexico from being tariffed, and about 38% of the imports from Canada. So, when you couple that with what we've seen already with the automobiles, he has sort of scaled back what was originally these widespread blanket 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canadian goods.
Taylor Wilson:
And Joey, did Trump outline any reasons for this latest switch? I know we've seen the markets kind of freak out this week, especially. Did he mention that, and how else did he argue for this latest chapter turn?
Joey Garrison:
Yeah, so President Trump signed these. And he actually signed both of them together, both the auto exemptions, as well as the ones on the US-Mexico-Canadian Agreement, but he didn't really explain exactly why. He just kept reiterating the April 2nd date, and that is what he keeps circling over and over when these so-called reciprocal tariffs go to effect. That's whereby the US imposes the exact tariff rate on any country's goods in which they tariff US exports.
So that's essentially, "If you tariff us, we're going to tariff you back." It's impossible to ignore the fact that this kind of step back here, this walk back comes after the stock market has really been rattled by Trump's actions on these tariffs earlier this week. And there's been widespread anxiety among consumers about higher prices. Of course, Trump got elected in part because of a promise to lower their prices, and these tariffs, typically, are passed down to the consumer. So, I think you do have to look at the context in which he has backpedaled on these tariffs.
Taylor Wilson:
It sounds like he had a pretty productive call, Joey, with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, but he also went after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. How so? What happened there? And I know this isn't the first time.
Joey Garrison:
Yeah, they kind of have an increasingly hostile relationship with each other. Trudeau, of course, announced it earlier this year that he was going to step down once his party finds a new leader. That's not happened yet. But earlier this week, Trudeau had a defiant speech, remarks after Trump's initial tariff announcement, said, "Hey, we're going to hit you back." He imposed their own tariffs, really starting to trade war here. And he also took a hit at Trump over Trump's recent public blow up with Zelensky, and accused Trump of siding, of course, with Putin. And so there's a lot going on there.
And so, Trump continues to call Trudeau the governor of Canada, which is a slap at him of course, and this idea that Canada could be brought on as the 51st state. And Trump has accused Trudeau of jumping all over this tariff issue in order to stay in power. As you noted, Trump had very high praise actually for the Mexican president, and said that they created really working together on efforts to stop the flow of fentanyl, as well as migrants coming into the US illegally, but he's not had that same praise for Trudeau and continues to go after him.
Taylor Wilson:
All right, so I guess April 2nd is now the date to circle on the calendar. What are you keeping an eye out for, Joey, between now and then?
Joey Garrison:
Yeah, April 2nd obviously is booked, but I'm still wondering whether there might even be more changes ahead on these current tariffs. We'll see, I guess when the market's open, whether this has done enough to change things. I thought it was interesting that President Trump, throughout his first term in office, would love to trumpet the market whenever there was a stock market rise. But now, when asked about the tumbling, he said he's barely been paying attention to it, and accused it of corporate globalist companies that are the reason that the stock market has responded negatively. And so, I think that was an interesting change of tune when it comes to the stock market from Trump.
Taylor Wilson:
There's news on this seemingly every day. Joey Garrison covers the White House for USA TODAY. Thank you, Joey.
Joey Garrison:
Hey, thanks, Taylor.

Cody Godwin:
The Trump administration yesterday suffered another legal blow in its efforts to freeze federal funding for programs that do not align with his agenda. A second judge blocked it from implementing a sweeping pause on spending grants, loans and other financial support. US district Judge John McConnell's decision was built on an earlier temporary restraining order he issued in January, and came after another judge in Washington last month issued a preliminary injunction that similarly blocked what she called, "An ill-conceived, abrupt pause on up to $3 trillion in federal funding." The administration is expected to appeal the decision.

We have a week to go until federal funding dries up and the US government shuts down if Congress can't pass legislation by March 14th. A shutdown would force a majority of federal workers to stop working and go without pay. Services deemed as essential, like border protection, air traffic control, and power grid maintenance, as well as payments for social security, Medicare and Medicaid would continue, but other things would be interrupted. Services at the National Parks would be closed, environmental and food inspections would stop, researchers at the National Institutes of Health would not be able to admit new patients, and IRS tax help would possibly be interrupted.
Republican leaders in both chambers say they want to extend current funding, and House speaker Mike Johnson told reporters that the details of the proposal will be available as soon as today, but absent Democratic support for the proposal, it can only afford to lose one GOP vote in the house, where Republicans currently control the chamber, 218 to 214. Democrats and both the House and Senate have said Republicans cannot count on them to help keep the government open if they aren't given a say in the package.

SpaceX's Starship rocket broke up during its eighth uncrewed flight yesterday. The incident sent debris shooting through the sky and temporarily affected flights at some South Florida airports. It was the second setback of its kind for SpaceX since January. The previous Starship demonstration on January 16th ended in a fiery explosion after the Starship vehicle was lost during its suborbital flight. SpaceX, which conducted an investigation with the FAA, determined that mishap was due to a series of propellant leaks and fires. For more, and if you want to check out the video of yesterday's raining debris, check out the link in today's show notes.

Butterflies in the US are in trouble, with their numbers declining rapidly. Taylor Wilson spoke with USA TODAY national correspondent, Elizabeth Weise, to learn more.
Taylor Wilson:
Beth, always a pleasure. Thanks for hopping on.
Elizabeth Weise:
Oh, always here to bring moments of joy and happiness into people's lives.
Taylor Wilson:
Well, let's try to find some joy out of some, I'd say kind of negative news out of the butterfly world. How severe, Beth, has this butterfly decline got in in recent years, just what are the numbers there?
Elizabeth Weise:
It's down 22% across the board from 2000 to 2020. So 22% is a lot. In some species, it was much higher. Some species, it was much lower. There's only one species that really did a lot better, but it's an odd one up in the northwest that kind of has peaks and valleys, and it happened to hit a peak and then a valley. So yeah, 22% across the country.
Taylor Wilson:
Wow. So like so much that we talk about, Beth, is climate really at the heart of all this?
Elizabeth Weise:
For butterflies, it's three things. It's lack of habitat. I mean, we're just increasingly building on wildland, we're growing crops on wildland, and there's just less place for butterflies to live. It is climate change, especially in the southwest because they can be pretty sensitive to heat. I mean, not that heat kills them, it's just that their preferred food might not grow as well if it's warmer, or it might be growing at the wrong time for the butterflies when they need it. And then also, increased pesticide use, because when butterflies eat things that have, well, insecticide on them, it can kill them as well.
Taylor Wilson:
All right. So beyond just being kind of nice to look at, nice to have in the back garden, why are butterflies such an important part of nature? Why are scientists really so concerned about this?
Elizabeth Weise:
There's two reasons. So first off, butterflies are just important in and of themselves. They're actually, surprisingly, and I did not know this, they're really important in helping to pollinate, for example, the cotton crop in Texas, butterflies and certain types of flies. So, they're pollinators, they're beautiful, of course, but they also exist as a food source for a lot of birds. And so when we have fewer butterflies, we have less food for the birds.
But it's also true that butterflies are a harbinger of what's happening to insects more broadly. And it was interesting, 'cause when I talked to one of the guys who'd done this research, he said, "We've got really good data on butterflies." And partly, it's 'cause people love butterflies, 'cause who doesn't? But they're also really easy to count, because you can see them and you know what you're looking at and you're like, "Oh, look, there's a monarch. Oh look, there's a tiger."
When you are counting other insects, it's really hard. Like he said, I used to count wasps and you had to capture them and take them back to the laboratory and look at them under a microscope to identify them. So, butterfly decreases are kind of a proxy for other insects. And insects are insanely important. They are the pollinators, right? All these plants that we depend on to eat and survive evolved to be pollinated by insects, and the insects are dying off and that's not good.
Taylor Wilson:
In terms of potential fixes here, Beth, and we're talking about big, broad issues, is there anything that we can do, anything on the horizon to kind of reverse these trends?
Elizabeth Weise:
There are, and the good news for butterflies especially is that they reproduce really fast. So if you give them more habitat, they will often rebound pretty quickly. Simple things like it's possible that you can limit the amount of pesticides that farmers are using perhaps in a certain portion of the butterfly's lifespan, and that could increase things.
The other thing is that it doesn't take a lot of land for butterflies to do well. And so, some researchers at Tufts had good data showing that even just allowing your backyard to be kind of an oasis for these pollinators can be really helpful. And that's as simple as planting a couple of native plants in your garden so that there are things that your local butterfly species like to eat, using less or no insecticides, having a diverse group of plants, and letting some areas get a little wild so they have some place to nest and have a habitat.
And then, and this depends on how your HOA or your neighbors like or don't like this, but if you could leave a little bit of your lawn to grow into like a more meadow-like area, that's the sort of habitat that butterflies really love. And they really can rebound, at least locally, and every little bit helps.
Taylor Wilson:
All right. Elizabeth Weise is a national correspondent with USA TODAY. Thanks, Beth.
Elizabeth Weise:
As always, a pleasure.

Cody Godwin:
Thanks for listening to The Excerpt. Were produced by Shannon Rae Green and Kaylee Monahan. Our executive producer is Laura Beatty. You can get the podcast wherever you get your audio. If you use a smart speaker, just ask for The Excerpt. I'll be back tomorrow with more of The Excerpt from USA TODAY.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Trump announces $1,000 government-funded accounts for American babies
Trump announces $1,000 government-funded accounts for American babies

Yahoo

time21 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Trump announces $1,000 government-funded accounts for American babies

Donald Trump unveiled a federal program Monday providing $1,000 government-funded investment accounts for American babies, getting backing from top business leaders who said they plan to contribute billions more to an initiative tied to 'the big beautiful bill'. At a White House roundtable with over a dozen CEOs, including from Uber, Goldman Sachs and Dell Technologies, Trump relayed the details of 'Trump accounts' – tax-deferred investment accounts tracking stock market performance for children born between 2025 and 2029. 'For every US citizen born after December 31, 2024, before January 1, 2029, the federal government will make a one-time contribution of $1,000 into a tax-deferred account that will track the overall stock market,' Trump said. The accounts will be controlled by guardians and allow additional private contributions up to $5,000 annually. Trump called it 'a pro-family initiative that will help millions of Americans harness the strength of our economy to lift up the next generation'. Related: Trump's 'big, beautiful' bill is built on falsehoods about low-income families | Brigid Schulte and Haley Swenson CEOs from major companies including Michael Dell, Dara Khosrowshahi of Uber, David Solomon of Goldman Sachs, and Vladimir Tenev of Robinhood committed billions for employees' children's accounts. Trump praised the executives as 'really the greatest business minds we have today' who are 'committed to contributing millions of dollars to the Trump account'. Mike Johnson, the House speaker, also at the roundtable, championed the program, saying: 'It's a bold, transformative policy that gives every eligible American child a financial head start from day one. Republicans are proud to be the party we always have been. It supports life and families, prosperity and opportunity.' The program passed the House as part of a massive budget bill but faces stiffer Senate Republican resistance over the broader package. The accounts cannot be implemented as a standalone program and depend entirely on passage of what Trump calls the 'one big, beautiful bill' that is 'among the most important pieces of legislation in our country's history', claiming it's 'fully funded through targeted reforms' including welfare changes and a proposed remittance tax. However, the congressional budget office last week found the bill would also add $2.4tn to the national debt over the next decade while cutting Medicaid and food assistance programs. The CBO analysis showed the bill, which passed the House by a single vote and no Democratic support, would leave 10.9 million more Americans without healthcare by 2034. The treasury-funded accounts, previously called 'Maga accounts' resemble existing 529 college plans but with lower contribution limits – leading some financial advisers to say the Trump accounts may not offer the best investment incentives. The move is also not without precedent: the United Kingdom operated a similar Child Trust Fund with government seed funding from 2002-2011 before discontinuing the program, while Singapore runs the Baby Bonus Scheme that includes government-matched savings accounts for children. Trump was optimistic about returns, saying beneficiaries would 'really be getting a big jump on life, especially if we get a little bit lucky with some of the numbers and the economies into the future'. Johnson warned that failure to pass the legislation would result in 'the largest tax increase in American history' and pushed for swift congressional action on what he called 'pro-growth legislation' that would 'help every single American'. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data

First Thing: Donald Trump sends Marines to LA as mayor says city being used as ‘experiment'
First Thing: Donald Trump sends Marines to LA as mayor says city being used as ‘experiment'

Yahoo

time21 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

First Thing: Donald Trump sends Marines to LA as mayor says city being used as ‘experiment'

Good morning. About 700 US marines were en route to Los Angeles on Tuesday after Donald Trump mobilized them the day before in response to protests over immigration raids. The president also doubled the number of national guard members to 4,000, in an extraordinary mobilization of troops against US residents that California leaders have called 'authoritarian'. The Pentagon mobilized the 700 active-duty marines after tensions between the federal government and the nation's second-largest city dramatically escalated over the weekend, with residents taking to the streets to demonstrate against a series of brutal crackdowns on immigrant communities. The raids have affected garment district works, day laborers and restaurants. Federal agents also arrested the president of a major California union who was serving as a community observer during the raids. Despite facing teargas and other munitions over the weekend, protesters continued to rally yesterday, and families of detained immigrants pleaded for their loved ones to be released. How is California responding? The state has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, accusing the US president of 'unlawfully' federalizing the state's national guard to quell a domestic protest. Days before Pete Hegseth fired three top aides last month over a Pentagon leak investigation into the disclosure of classified materials, according to four people familiar with the episode, a recently hired senior adviser said he could help with the inquiry. The adviser, Justin Fulcher, suggested to Hegseth's then chief of staff, and Hegseth's personal lawyer, Tim Parlatore, that he knew of warrantless surveillance conducted by the National Security Agency (NSA) that had identified the leakers. Fulcher offered to share the supposed evidence as long as he could help run the investigation, three of the people said. But when he eventually sat down with officials, it became clear he had no evidence of a wiretap, and the Pentagon had been duped. The extraordinary episode adds to the growing portrait of dysfunction inside Hegseth's front office. What happened next? The development was not communicated to the White House – so several Trump advisers who were told of the NSA wiretap claim believed that was part of the 'smoking gun' evidence against the three aides fired by Hegseth, until they developed their own doubts. The Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg was leaving Tel Aviv on a flight to France after having been detained earlier with other activists on a Gaza-bound aid boat, Israel said today. 'Greta Thunberg is departing Israel on a flight to France,' Israel's foreign ministry said on its official X account, along with two photos of the activist on board a plane. The group of activists departed Italy on 1 June aboard the Madleen carrying a symbolic amount of food and supplies for Gaza, whose population is at risk of famine. Israeli forces intercepted the boat in international waters yesterday and towed it to the port of Ashdod. What about the other activists? 'The passengers of the 'Selfie Yacht' arrived at Ben Gurion airport to depart from Israel and return to their home countries,' the Israeli foreign ministry said. 'Those who refuse to sign deportation documents and leave Israel will be brought before a judicial authority.' The health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, is getting rid of all 17 members on a key panel of vaccine experts and will replace them, he said yesterday. A former girlfriend of Sean 'Diddy' Combs told jurors in his sex-trafficking and racketeering trial that she repeatedly told the music mogul she didn't want to have sex with other men. Authorities said a Chinese scientist was arrested while arriving at a Detroit airport for the alleged smuggling of biological material, the second such case in two days. Donald Trump unveiled a federal program yesterday providing $1,000 government-funded investment accounts for American babies, getting backing from top business leaders who said they plan to contribute billions more to an initiative tied to 'the big beautiful bill'. Graphic sexual content, bullying, abuse and threats of violence are rife on Meta-owned products. Now Meta is pumping billions of dollars a year into building its metaverse, a virtual world for education, business, shopping and live events. But if Meta has utterly failed to keep women and girls safe in its existing online spaces, why should we trust it with the future? The unexplained deaths of hundreds of elephants near watering holes across the Okavango delta in May 2020 alarmed conservationists. Nearly five years later, scientists finally published a paper indicating what they believe to be the reason behind the deaths: toxic water caused by an algal bloom. Millions of people are prevented from having the number of children they want by a toxic mix of economic barriers and sexism, a new UN report has warned. While right-wing governments, including the US and Hungary, are increasingly blaming falling fertility rates on a rejection of parenthood, the report found most people wanted children. Gen Z are making headlines for their hesitancy to use bar tabs – instead preferring to close out and pay after every single drink, no matter how many rounds they order. But do younger people have a monopoly on poor bar etiquette? Alaina Demopoulos spoke to bartenders across the US about which generation behaves best. First Thing is delivered to thousands of inboxes every weekday. If you're not already signed up, subscribe now. If you have any questions or comments about any of our newsletters please email newsletters@

700 Marines heading to LA for riot assistance; Newsom calls move 'deranged fantasy' of Trump
700 Marines heading to LA for riot assistance; Newsom calls move 'deranged fantasy' of Trump

Yahoo

time25 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

700 Marines heading to LA for riot assistance; Newsom calls move 'deranged fantasy' of Trump

Editor's note: This page reflects the news from ICE protests in Los Angeles on Monday, June 9. For the latest news on the LA protests, read USA TODAY's live coverage for Tuesday, June 10. LOS ANGELES − A tense standoff between California and the federal government escalated Monday, with federal officials preparing to send in 700 Marines to assist the National Guard and state officials saying they will sue the Trump administration's decision to "trample over" Gov. Gavin Newsom's authority. Newsom shot back at Trump over the move to send in Marines: "U.S. Marines have served honorably across multiple wars in defense of democracy. They are heroes. They shouldn't be deployed on American soil facing their own countrymen to fulfill the deranged fantasy of a dictatorial President." The addition of active-duty troops marks a significant escalation. It comes as California officials say they will sue the Trump administration, challenging the decision to federalize the National Guard and send its members onto city streets amid increasingly hostile protests over Trump's immigration policies, California Attorney General Rob Bonta said Monday. In addition to the Marines, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell announced on Monday that 2,000 National Guardsmen would be deployed to Los Angeles. The mobilization of additional troops comes after Trump authorized 2,000 guardsmen to be deployed to the city. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said the Marines are being sent "due to increased threats to federal law enforcement officers and federal buildings, approximately 700 active-duty... are being deployed to Los Angeles to restore order." "We have an obligation to defend federal law enforcement officers - even if Gavin Newsom will not," Hegseth said. Trump said the troop deployment in Los Angeles is expected to last 60 days, according to California's adjutant general. Amid moves from the Trump administration to deploy as many as 4,000 National Guardsmen and 700 Marines to Los Angeles, California Gov. Gavin Newsom is firing back with all tools in his arsenal, including 800 additional officers, a lawsuit and invectives warning Trump is acting like a 'dictator.' 'Los Angeles: don't take Trump's bait. Trump wants chaos and he's instigated violence,' Newsom said in a post on X. 'Stay peaceful. Stay focused. Don't give him the excuse he's looking for.' Newsom's move to rally support comes after Trump ordered National Guardsmen to Los Angeles without the governor's consent and after the president even suggested Newsom should be arrested. 'This isn't about public safety. It's about stroking a dangerous President's ego,' Newsom said in another post. 'This is Reckless. Pointless. And Disrespectful to our troops." The California governor has called out Trump's moves to intervene in the city while also drawing a firm line with protestors: 'Foolish agitators who take advantage of Trump's chaos will be held accountable.' Trump and Newsom have often clashed, but the showdown over Los Angeles marks a new low in their heated relationship. In a lawsuit, Newsom says the Trump administration is violating California's sovereignty. 'One of the cornerstones of our Nation and our democracy is that our people are governed by civil, not military, rule,' the lawsuit says. Trump 'used a protest that local authorities had under control to make another unprecedented power grab, this time at the cost of the sovereignty of the State of California.' Read more about their feud here. A photojournalist for the Desert Sun, part of the USA TODAY Network, spotted a convoy of Marines heading for Los Angeles Monday evening. Five buses and six to 10 armed vehicles passed Park Boulevard near Joshua Tree while heading west on Highway 62 — the main route from Twentynine Palms to Los Angeles — shortly after 7 p.m. At the nearby crosswalk, about 20 protestors were gathered demonstrating against the recent immigrations raids. The movement of troops to the city comes just hours after Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced 700 Marines would be "deployed to Los Angeles to restore order." California state officials have fired back that federal troops are escalating the tension between law enforcement and protestors. Several crowds of demonstrators circled downtown Los Angeles, including City Hall and several federal buildings as helicopters paced the crowds from above. By 7 p.m. local time, the crowds numbered at least several hundred, snaking its way past cars and graffiti calling for ICE to be horns and sirens maintained a constant background symphony as protesters walked. Police officers periodically fired tear gas or pepper balls as a crowd sometimes moved too close to a protected building or someone threw a water bottle at the previous evening, local authorities appeared to have the area under firm control, although no one stopped people with spray paint from defacing public was no visible sign of federal troops. At a news conference Monday, Bonta announced details of the lawsuit against the administration, calling Trump's move "unnecessary, counterproductive and most importantly unlawful." Bonta said Trump's order abused the federal government's authority and "trampled over" Gov. Gavin Newsom's sovereignty. Trump said the guard would restore order amid mounting violent clashes between police and protesters angry at his aggressive pursuit of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. illegally. On Monday, U.S. Northern Command confirmed 700 Marines would also be sent into the city. The president pledged in a social media post to "liberate Los Angeles from the Migrant Invasion, and put an end to these Migrant riots. Order will be restored, the Illegals will be expelled, and Los Angeles will be set free." In a social media post, Newsom blamed Trump for the increase in unrest after three days of protests, saying "we're suing him." 'Donald Trump is creating fear and terror by failing to adhere to the U.S. Constitution and overstepping his authority. This is a manufactured crisis to allow him to take over a state militia, damaging the very foundation of our republic,' Newsom said in a statement. Police on Monday were urging businesses and residents to report any "vandalism, damage or looting" for documentation after some of the protests Sunday deteriorated into destructive clashes between officers and protesters. Some vehicles were set ablaze, protesters blocked the 101 Freeway, and a group of them converged on an overpass and threw objects down at police, video footage showed. Authorities declared several of the demonstrations Sunday "unlawful assemblies," sweeping in with flash-bangs and tear gas grenades to disperse hundreds of protesters. Police in riot gear were joined by hundreds of the California National Guard troops. More: National Guard deployed in Los Angeles during protest clashes California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on Monday that he would have an additional 800 state and local law enforcement officers deploy to Los Angeles. Newsom said the additional officers are being called in order to handle the protests stemming from the face-offs between protestors and national guardsmen that were sent in 'illegally,' according to the governor's office. 'Chaos is exactly what Trump wanted, now we are sending in hundreds more law enforcement to pick up the pieces,' Newsom said. 'State and local leaders stand together, coordinated and resolute to ensure the safety of the Los Angeles region.' Karen Bass, LA's mayor, backed Newsom: 'While Washington choreographed these chaotic events, the LAPD and local law enforcement continue to effectively respond.' The Pentagon is sending 700 active-duty Marines to Los Angeles in response to protests over immigration sweeps by the Trump administration, according to U.S. Northern Command spokesperson Col Kelly Frushour. Frushour said the troops belong to the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment and are based at Twentynine Palms, about 140 miles east of Los Angeles. The California-based Marines will join the 2,100 federalized National Guard troops "protecting federal personnel and federal property in the greater Los Angeles area," Frushour added. Marines heading to Los Angeles are from an infantry battalion whose typical mission is close combat with enemy forces. But for this mission, Frushour said, the activated Marines and Guardsmen "have been trained in de-escalation, crowd control, and standing rules for the use of force." The Marines will be moving out within hours, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to speak publicly. The Marines had been on standby since Saturday, according to U.S. Northern Command, which is in charge of the operation that also includes California National Guardsmen. Like the Guard troops, the Marines will be used to protect federal property. The addition of active-duty troops is a significant escalation in the administration's ongoing efforts to round up those who have violated immigration laws. There are thousands of active-duty troops assisting at the southern border but none inside a major U.S. city. Read more here. - Tom Vanden Brook, Davis Winkie California Gov. Gavin Newsom filed a lawsuit on Monday against President Donald Trump over the president's move to deploy members of the California National Guard without Newsom's consent. The process is called federalizing the National Guard. The Office of the California Attorney General shared a copy of the lawsuit with USA TODAY late Monday afternoon local time. 'One of the cornerstones of our Nation and our democracy is that our people are governed by civil, not military, rule,' the lawsuit says. Trump 'used a protest that local authorities had under control to make another unprecedented power grab, this time at the cost of the sovereignty of the State of California.' Trump authorized 2,000 National Guardsmen on June 7 to deploy to Los Angeles and on June 9 Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ordered another 2,000 to the city, according to the lawsuit. Officials at the Los Angeles Police Department announced that they had arrested 50 people over Saturday and Sunday in downtown areas that 'escalated into significant acts of violence, vandalism, and looting.' LAPD said 29 people were arrested Saturday evening for failing to follow orders to disperse. 21 people were arrested Sunday on charges from attempted murder with a Molotov cocktail to assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer, LAPD said. Authorities said officers used tear gas on the 'hostile crowd' as well as over 600 rounds of non-lethal bullets. Among those hit was an Australian journalist covering the protests. At least five officers received minor injuries, according to LAPD. Five police horses also 'were targeted and sustained minor injuries.' Police said protest groups used handheld radios 'to coordinate and evade law enforcement.' LAPD said its Professional Standards Bureau will investigate excessive use of force allegations. An Australian journalist was shot with a rubber bullet by an officer while covering protests in Los Angeles over the weekend, according to her media outlet. Lauren Tomasi, a U.S. national correspondent for Australia's 9News, was shot in the leg by a rubber bullet while reporting on the immigration raids and ensuing protests in Los Angeles on Sunday, June 8, the network reported. Video captured by 9News shows a nearby armed police officer aiming a weapon at Tomasi before firing, striking the back of her left leg. Tomasi is heard yelling out in pain as the camera pans away. Tomasi is sore but otherwise unharmed from the incident, 9News reported. - Greta Cross Multiple Waymo self-driving robotaxis were set on fire in Los Angeles during the protests. Other cars were also put to the torch but the Waymos have garnered special interest, partially because they're something new on the scene and partially because as electric vehicles, they raise different and specific concerns if their batteries burn. Electric vehicle fires can burn hotter and more intensely than gasoline-fueled cars, if their batteries catch fire. The fires also release different emissions than traditional gasoline-powered vehicle fires, including gases such as hydrogen fluoride, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, and metal-based particulates. EV fires are also more difficult to put out than ones in gasoline-powered cars and require different firefighting techniques, which firefighters are trained on. - Elizabeth Weise The City of Glendale, about 9 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles, announced it would be terminating its contract with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to hold federal immigration detainees at the local police facility, city officials said in a news release Sunday night. ICE's agreement with Glendale had been in place since 2007, according to the release. '(The) City recognizes that public perception of the ICE contract—no matter how limited or carefully managed, no matter the good—has become divisive,' the statement said. On Monday, the Department of Homeland Security responded to the announcement on X, saying 'Glendale's politicians stand with criminal illegal aliens, including gang members, rapists, and murderers over American citizens.' 'It is deeply disturbing that sanctuary politicians in Glendale, California, would terminate an agreement to hold ICE detainees and violent criminals — which the city has had with DHS for more than 15 years — just as violent rioters are looting and defacing Los Angeles and assaulting federal law enforcement,' DHS said. - Victoria Valenzuela Several stars have taken to social media to share information and resources, and to criticize the federal response to what they called peaceful demonstrations in Los Angeles. On June 8, Billie Eilish's brother and collaborator, Finneas, posted on his Instagram story about the protests, cursing at ICE and sharing that he attended a protest and was immediately met with force. "Tear gassed almost immediately at the very peaceful protest downtown ‒ they're inciting this," wrote the songwriter, an LA native. -Taijuan Moorman Bonta, the California attorney general, confirmed June 9 that the state plans to file a lawsuit against the Trump administration over its "unlawful" decision to deploy National Guard troops in Los Angeles against Newsom's wishes. Bonta said that by the time the first few hundred troops arrived in Los Angles "the protests had mostly dissipated and streets were mostly quiet and calm." After the troops were deployed, Bonta said the situation escalated and unrest grew, "causing highways to close and putting people in danger." The order violated the 10th Amendment and failed to meet the criteria required to invoke the law, according to the attorney general. Bonta said the move marks the first time a president has invoked this statute since President Richard Nixon ordered the National Guard to deliver mail during the 1970 Postal Service Strike. "They unlawfully invoked a law that's intended to prevent an invasion by a foreign nation or a rebellion or local and state law enforcement make it so that the laws of the United States cannot be executed," Bonta said. "Those are the only three triggers that would provide for the invocation of the National Guard, and none of them were present here." When asked about Trump's suggestion that Newsom should be arrested, Bonta defended the governor's actions and downplayed the possibility. "It is the president and the Trump administration that is consistently and frequently, blatantly and brazenly violating the law, not Governor Newsom," Bonta said. "So it's a seems to be more of bluster and threat." In San Francisco, three separate protests against immigration arrests were scheduled for Monday, June 9. The first took place at noon at the California State Building, a few blocks from City Hall. It was called by the Service Employees International Union, whose California president, David Huerta, was arrested Friday in the Los Angeles protests. Attendees were urged to wear their union colors. A second protest was scheduled to be held at San Francisco City Hall at 4 p.m. local time and was organized by multiple local progressive groups. Finally, at 6 p.m. a protest was scheduled to be held at the 24th street BART subway plaza in San Francisco's Mission District, which is the heart of the city's Hispanic community. The protests in San Francisco come as several Waymo self-driving taxis were attacked and burned in Los Angeles during protests on Saturday, June 7. The city in Northern California is home to the largest number of the self-driving cars, where they are a common sight on roadways. Waymo told USA TODAY while the company was still operating and serving riders in San Francisco, out of an abundance of caution it was limiting trips in certain areas where protesters may be gathering. - Elizabeth Weise While national attention focused on Los Angeles, it was business as usual for virtually everyone in the city. Outside the Home Depot in the Paramount neighborhood, a small group of day laborers in paint-stained pants sat on buckets waiting for work. Several said ICE had detained people across Alondra Boulevard on June 7, sparking unrest. They said that although they lacked papers to remain legally in the United States, they weren't worried about being deported if ICE agents returned. Mexican-born Jose Luis Valencia, 54, said if it's his time to go back to his home country, he'll go. 'We're not thieves,' he said. 'We're just looking for jobs.' Longtime LA resident Ira Long, 67, said the reporting of the unrest has been overblown. Long, a pastor at the Alondra Church of Christ in Compton, said he still remembers when the National Guard was called out in the wake of the 1992 Rodney King riots. 'That was a really, really terrible time. Right now I don't feel any of that tension or anxiety,' said Long, a retired special education teacher. 'But people are uneasy, and there's a real sense of loss because we have lost people who were a part of this community.' Speaking as church volunteers prepared to distribute food to community members about a half mile from where weekend protests erupted, Long said he wants the rest of the country to know Los Angeles is a good, safe city. 'This is a very loving community,' he said. 'It's never been totally out of control. It has its challenges, its issues. But there are also amazing and fantastic families who make this a great place to live. It's very peaceful. And right now it's pretty cool.' Dozens of protesters rallied outside the Justice Department's headquarters in Washington to criticize Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in Los Angeles, where Trump deployed the National Guard. 'Enough of these mass ICE raids who are sweeping up innocent people,' Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., said June 9. 'Enough of the undermining of due process.' The Service Employees International Union organized the protest after the union's California president, David Huerta, was arrested in the Los Angeles protests. Bill Essayli, the U.S. attorney in Los Angeles, told KNBC, Huerta allegedly obstructed law enforcement vehicles from getting into a facility where they were conducting a search warrant, citing video of the arrest. 'They tried to move him and then he got into a physical altercation with one of our agents and he resisted and he had to be pepper sprayed and subdued,' Essayli said. Participants at the Justice Department protest held signs that said, 'Free David. End ICE Raids' and 'Justice for David Huerta Now.' The rally was one of more than a dozen scheduled in cities across the U.S. to demand Huerta's release and an end to workplace immigration raids, the Los Angeles Times reported. − Bart Jansen Amid the mounting legal clash between the federal government and the state of California, Trump suggested that his border czar Tom Homan should arrest Newsom. 'I would do it … I think it's great,' Trump said when asked if Homan should arrest the governor, who has challenged the administration's mobilization of National Guard troops to crack down on violent protests against immigration raids in Los Angeles. Arresting Newsom, who responded to Homan's threat by daring the feds to arrest him in a June 8 social media post, would represent a major escalation of the state's widening rift with the Trump administration. − Davis Winkie LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell called the outbreak of violence "disgusting" and said it had grown worse Saturday. He said he does not believe the same people who were genuinely protesting immigration policy were involved in the violence. Newsom warned that violent protesters would be arrested and prosecuted. He also kept up his social media attack on Trump, saying California "didn't have a problem until Trump got involved" and that unrest is "exactly" what Trump wanted. "Let's get this straight: 1) Local law enforcement didn't need help. 2) Trump sent troops anyway — to manufacture chaos and violence. 3) Trump succeeded," Newsom wrote. "4) Now things are destabilized and we need to send in more law enforcement just to clean up Trump's mess." Family members of several people detained last week in an ICE sweep pleaded for the release of their loved ones at a press conference Monday. Elaina Jung Hee Vermeulen, with the California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice, said she attempted on Sunday to meet with some of the detained warehouse workers. "Instead of allowing me to meet with community members, they jumped onto trucks in riot gear," she said. Vermeulen urged local leaders to protect the rights of working class immigrants and said ICE must be banned from entering workplaces. "Every single person who is here, who is figintg for a better life for their family, deserves to have their rights protected," she said. As South Dakota governor in February 2024, Kristi Noem threatened then-President Joe Biden when Democrats said he should federalize the National Guard in Texas to disrupt that state governor's anti-immigration efforts. If he did, Noem warned, Biden would be mounting a 'direct attack on states' rights,' and sparking a 'war' between Washington and Republican-led state governments, she said in a Feb. 6, 2024 interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity. On June 8, Noem − now Trump's Homeland Security secretary − cheered Trump for doing the same thing to the Democratic governor of the state of California. On CBS News' Face the Nation Sunday, Noem explained her reversal by saying, "Governor Newsom has proven that he makes bad decisions." Read more here. − Josh Meyer A California sheriff running for governor isn't pleased with former Vice President Kamala Harris' reaction to the explosive protests. Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said in a June 8 post on X that Trump is "not out there lighting cars on fire, hurling projectiles at law enforcement or blocking freeways.' The sheriff, whose county is just north of San Diego and the fourth-most populous county in the state, was responding to Harris' earlier statement where she said the deployment of the National Guard was "meant to provoke chaos.' Harris, who is mulling a bid for California governor next year, put much of the blame on the Trump administration's ICE raids and a "cruel, calculated agenda to spread panic and division." Bianco, who is also running for governor in 2026, is a long-standing Trump supporter who gained a bit of attention in 2021 for vowing not to enforce COVID-19 vaccine mandates in his office. He said Sunday the former VP's comments were 'an embarrassment." 'The Democrats and their 'leaders' own this,' Bianco added. − Phillip M. Bailey Florida state Sen. Ileana Garcia, who co-founded the group Latinas for Trump, criticized his administration's recent immigration enforcement actions as 'unacceptable and inhumane' in a post on X. Her remarks come as federal agents have arrested immigrants in courthouses across the U.S., including Florida, stripping them of due process protections, as NBC News reported. 'I understand the importance of deporting criminal aliens, but what we are witnessing are arbitrary measures to hunt down people who are complying with their immigration hearings − in many cases, with credible fear of persecution claims − all driven by a Miller-like desire to satisfy a self-fabricated deportation goal,' she wrote in her post, referring to White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller. She said she stands with Florida Republican Rep. María Elvira Salazar, who wrote in a statement June 6 that 'anyone with a pending asylum case, status-adjustment petition, or similar claim deserves to go through the legal process.' − Sudiksha Kochi Trump border czar Tom Homan on Monday denied ever calling for the arrest of Newsom. Homan told Fox News that he was asked if Newsom or Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass could be arrested and Homan responded that, if they commit a crime, they could be arrested. 'There was no discussion about arresting Newsom,' Homan said. Newsom had addressed the issue on social media, saying that "Trump's border czar is threatening to arrest me for speaking out. Come and get me, tough guy. I don't give a damn. It won't stop me from standing up for California." At 8 p.m. local time on Sunday, authorities declared the protest to be an unlawful assembly and moved in aggressively with flash-bangs and tear gas grenades. That sent hundreds of people running, their eyes streaming with tears. Helicopters clattered overhead as protesters fled the area to the honking of car horns and periodic cheers. According to preliminary information, police said at least 10 people have been arrested and three officers were injured during protests on Sunday. California Highway Patrol arrested 17 people on the 101 Freeway, police said. On Saturday, police arrested 29 people. The protests began Friday after Immigration and Customs Enforcement sweeps in the area resulted in more than 40 arrests. Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, defended the raids and said those arrested by ICE included a Vietnamese man convicted of second-degree murder, an Ecuadoran man convicted of possession of five kilograms of cocaine, and a Filipino man convicted of sexual offenses. "These rioters in Los Angeles are fighting to keep rapists, murderers and other violent criminals loose on Los Angeles streets," McLaughlin said in a statement. "Instead of rioting, they should be thanking ICE officers every single day who wake up and make our communities safer." Protests against immigration enforcement policies were not limited to the Los Angeles area. In San Francisco, a demonstration that drew hundreds ended with violence and about 60 arrests, police said. "Individuals in the group became violent and began to commit crimes ranging from assault to felony vandalism and causing property damage," San Francisco police said in a statement. An unlawful assembly was declared and many left the scene while others vandalized buildings and police cars. Two officers suffered non-life-threatening injuries. "Individuals are always free to exercise their First Amendment rights in San Francisco but violence especially against SFPD officers - will never be tolerated," the statement said. Videos show Waymo cars on fire amid LA protests; service reportedly suspended Photos and videos show several Waymo self-driving cars being torched during the protests. The LAPD said one street had been closed indefinitely after "multiple autonomous vehicles" had been set on fire. Footage shared on social media captured several of Waymo driverless taxis engulfed in flames in the June 8 protests. Others were vandalized with messages against Trump and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, videos show. Waymo suspended service in downtown Los Angeles and "will not be serving any rides in the protest area until it is deemed safe," a company spokesperson told NBC News. − Melina Khan This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Marines heading to LA; Newsom says move is Trump's 'deranged fantasy'

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store