
White House defends crackdown on protesters in LA as Trump calls for California governor's arrest
Members of the Los Angeles Metro Police clash with demonstrators during a protest against federal immigration sweeps in downtown Los Angeles, June 8. PHOTO: REUTERS
Listen to article
California officials blamed President Donald Trump on Monday for inflaming an already tense situation in Los Angeles by sending in National Guard troops, while the White House argued the sometimes violent demonstrations justified ramping up deportation efforts even further.
Trump even suggested California Governor Gavin Newsom be arrested.
As the city faced a fourth day of protests over Trump's immigration policies, Democrats and Republicans clashed over what has become the biggest flashpoint in the Republican administration's aggressive efforts to deport migrants who are in the country illegally.
Earlier in the day, Newsom, viewed as a potential Democratic presidential contender in 2028, vowed to sue the federal government over its deployment of the Guard, calling it unlawful.
"This is exactly what Donald Trump wanted. He flamed the fires and illegally acted to federalize the National Guard," Newsom posted on X on Monday. "We're suing him."
Federal law allows the president to deploy the Guard if the nation is invaded, if there is 'rebellion or danger of rebellion,' or the president is 'unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States.'
Returning to the White House after a night at Camp David, Trump was asked by a reporter whether his border czar, Tom Homan, should arrest Newsom. Homan has threatened to arrest anyone who obstructs immigration enforcement efforts, including the governor.
"I would do it if I were Tom. I think it's great," Trump replied. "Gavin likes the publicity, but I think it would be a great thing."
The streets were calm early on Monday after protests erupted on Friday when US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents targeted several locations in the city for sweeps as part of the administration's efforts to arrest migrants. The demonstrations continued over the weekend, resulting in a large police response.
The White House contended the protests were a further reason for Republicans in Congress to pass Trump's 'one big beautiful bill' that would increase border security and military spending.
The bill, now in the US Senate after clearing the US House of Representatives, would also slash taxes, cut Medicaid benefits and do away with green-energy initiatives.
'We need the One Big, Beautiful Bill to pass ASAP!' White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt posted on X.
Fiscal conservatives in the Senate, along with former Trump adviser Elon Musk, have balked at the bill's cost, saying it will inflate the nation's budget deficit.
Clash raises newsom's profile
Trump has pledged to deport record numbers of people who are in the country illegally and to lock down the US-Mexico border, setting the ICE border enforcement agency a daily goal of arresting at least 3,000 migrants.
For Democrats, lacking leadership since Trump won the presidential election last November, the Los Angeles protests have served as a rallying point, allowing them to find some political footing while standing up to the administration's policies.
The episode has provided Newsom, serving his second term as governor, with a national platform that has allowed him to portray himself as Trump's chief antagonist.
But it has also underscored the risks of appearing too sympathetic to protesters, some of whom have set cars on fire and thrown bottles at police. During his first term, Trump castigated Democrats for civil unrest during riots protesting the murder of George Floyd, a Black man, by a white police officer in 2020.
In one demonstration of that delicate balancing act, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass blamed the Trump administration for inciting tensions by sending in the Guard, while also condemning protesters.
"I don't want people to fall into the chaos that I believe is being created by the administration completely unnecessarily," Bass told a press conference on Sunday.
Trump accused Newsom and Bass of playing down the violence.
"We made a great decision in sending the National Guard to deal with the violent, instigated riots in California," he posted on social media on Monday. "If we had not done so, Los Angeles would have been completely obliterated."
On guard
US Northern Command said 300 members of the California National Guard had been deployed to three spots in the Los Angeles area. The Department of Homeland Security said the Guard's mission was to protect federal buildings.
Police declared all of downtown Los Angeles on Sunday to be an unlawful assembly area and ordered protesters to go home after a third day of violence hit immigration protests.
During those protests, officers on horseback tried to control the crowds. Some used flash-bang grenades and tear gas, CNN reported.
Demonstrators shouted "Shame on you!" at police and some appeared to throw objects, video images showed. One group blocked the 101 Freeway, a downtown thoroughfare.
Several self-driving cars from Alphabet's Waymo were set ablaze on a downtown street on Sunday evening.
City police chief Jim McDonnell told a media briefing on Sunday evening that people had a right to protest peacefully but the violence he had seen by some was "disgusting."
Asked if the National Guard was needed, McDonnell said police would not "go to that right away," but added, "Looking at the violence tonight, I think we've got to make a reassessment."
Police said they had arrested 10 people on Sunday and 29 the previous night.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Business Recorder
23 minutes ago
- Business Recorder
US and Pak-India peace process
EDITORIAL: The brief but intense four-day Pakistan-India military conflict has underscored the volatile nature of relations between the two nuclear-armed neighbours, and the need for diplomatic engagement in the greater interest of regional peace. After he brokered a ceasefire President Donald Trump had offered to work with both Pakistan and India to achieve a 'solution' of the Kashmir dispute. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari — on visit to the US at the head of a delegation — have lauded the US President for deescalating the military confrontation, and once again, reached out to him for mediating talks with India. Said Bilawal in Washington, 'if the US is willing to help Pakistan maintain this ceasefire, it is reasonable to expect that an American role in arranging a comprehensive dialogue would also be beneficial for us.' India, however, denies President Trump helped bring about ceasefire. It also bristles at being re-hyphenated with Pakistan it had worked hard to unravel, insisting on its usual stance of rejecting third-party mediation on bilateral issues. Its ultra-Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi is too embarrassed to admit that he had accepted mediation due to the unfavourable turn of events in 'Operation Sindoor' he had launched accusing Pakistan of orchestrating the terrorist attack in Pahalgam. He has called the ceasefire 'a pause' but knows ending it won't be easy, and that his side had miscalculated two vital factors: One, Pakistan's conventional military capability reinforced by cutting edge technology, provided by Chinese friends, which helped establish its superiority even over his prized Rafale jets. In fact, some military analysts have opined that it may take six months to a year for Pakistan better prepare and do a return favour to Modi regarding his 'new normal' doctrine. Secondly, India had attacked Pakistan blaming it for the Pahalgam atrocity without providing convincing evidence to the world. In so doing it failed to realise that the world has moved on since 2001, hence the unsubstantiated allegation won't work. It had the support of only Israel and Afghanistan. No less important is a latest development; Pakistan has been named Vice Chair of the Security Council's Counter-Terrorism Committee, which monitors implementation of Resolution 1373 (2001), a core component of the UN's global counter-terrorism architecture. Above all, an unindented consequence of Modi's 'new normal' is that it has propelled the Kashmir issue to front and centre of international attention. In his previous term Trump had indicated an interest in resolving Kashmir 'if' the two sides were willing. He is more emphatic this time around. 'I will work with you both, to see if, after a 'thousand years' a solution can be arrived at concerning Kashmir', he said in a post on his Truth Social platform. There already exists blueprint of a draft agreement on Kashmir the late Indian prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and president Gen Pervez Musharraf were preparing to sign when sabotaged by some hawks within the BJP. Later, Congress Party PM Dr Manmohan Singh had also tried to push the same out-of-box solution. Narendra Modi, who came to power nearly 11 years ago, and his men need to get over their ego hurt and let President Trump's offer be a stepping stone to a comprehensive dialogue process to settle the Kashmir question so that there is durable peace and stability in South Asia. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025


Business Recorder
23 minutes ago
- Business Recorder
US willing to help resolve Kashmir dispute
WASHINGTON: The United States has hinted that President Donald Trump could serve as a mediator in the ongoing Kashmir conflict between Pakistan and India, following a deadly attack in Pahalgam that has heightened tensions between the two nations. During a State Department briefing, spokesperson Tammy Bruce highlighted Trump's potential role, stating that 'we all recognize that President Trump in each step that he takes, it's made to solve generational differences between countries, generational war. So it shouldn't surprise anyone that he'd want to manage something like that. He seems very much to be – and not just seems but he is – has been the only one to bring certain people to the table to have conversations that nobody thought was possible.' The comments follow a diplomatic push by Pakistan to counter India's accusations that Islamabad was responsible for the April 22 attack in Pahalgam, a claim Pakistan has firmly denied. A Pakistani parliamentary delegation, led by PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, met with US officials last week, including Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Allison Hooker, to discuss bilateral cooperation and regional peace. Tammy further stated that the 'State Department officials, including Under Secretary for Political Affairs Allison Hooker, met with the Pakistani parliamentary delegation during a visit they had to Washington last week. She reiterated U.S. support for the ongoing ceasefire – as you might imagine, thank God – between India and Pakistan.' Pakistan's diplomatic efforts extend beyond Washington, with the delegation scheduled to visit London and Brussels to advocate Islamabad's position on the Kashmir issue.


Express Tribune
5 hours ago
- Express Tribune
US mediation offer
Listen to article The Kashmir dispute is not a regional fault line. It is a global flashpoint — one that demands more than sterile diplomatic statements and historical posturing. The recent military flare-up between Pakistan and India, the most serious between the two in decades, brought the subcontinent dangerously close to open conflict. A ceasefire was achieved, but not through bilateral diplomacy — it was the intervention from none other than the President of the United States of America that helped defuse the escalation that threatened what is called mutually agreed destruction. This begs the question: can the Kashmir dispute be resolved without the active involvement of a major world power? For far too long, India has been averse to third-party mediation, insisting that Kashmir is a bilateral matter in line with the Shimla Agreement of 1972. This rigid stance has, in effect, blocked any meaningful dialogue while allowing the conflict to fester. But the latest developments suggest a subtle shift. New Delhi and Islamabad, while not openly inviting mediation, allowed space for President Donald Trump to intervene — a notable departure from past rejections of third-party involvement. Just yesterday, the US Department of State reiterated Trump's willingness to help resolve the Kashmir issue, stating that "each step that he takes is made to solve generational differences between countries". This statement, while significant, should be viewed with cautious optimism considering the chequered US history. The stakes are too high to leave the longstanding Kashmir issue to empty slogans or rigid bilateralism. And as long as it remains unresolved, it will continue to poison relations between the two nuclear-armed neighbours and destabilise an already fragile region. Whether it is Trump or any other global leader, only a credible and powerful mediator can help break the deadlock. Currently, the US — which enjoys leverage over both Islamabad and New Delhi — remains best placed to lead that effort.