Newsom says it's time for President Trump to ‘grow up' in rebuke over National Guard deployment

Fox News

17-07-2025

After President Donald Trump federalized California National Guard troops in response to anti-ICE riots in Los Angeles, progressive Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom told reporters, "It's about time Donald Trump grow up. I want to get them back under my control."
Speaking outside a Los Angeles church Wednesday, Newsom, who is believed to have presidential aspirations, urged Trump to release the remaining National Guard troops in LA. He called the deployment a waste of hundreds of millions of dollars.
The governor, who tried to sue the Trump administration over its use of the National Guard to respond to the rioting, called the president a "chaos agent" who has "torn asunder" California communities.
This comes after Newsom called Trump a "son of a b----," something he did not back away from when asked about it during the news conference.
"I don't think they understand any other kind of language," and "I have no apologies for standing tall and firm and pushing back against their cruelty," Newsom said.
"It's a disgrace," Newsom said. "The president of the United States decided to advance his rote cruelty by utilizing the brave men and women of the National Guard as pawns in an effort to theatrically show his strength."
Newsom claimed the deployment was a massive waste of time and money.
He accused Trump of having "burned" hundreds of millions of dollars "just to try to sear in your mind that he's some tough guy because he didn't get enough hugs from his parents growing up."
"This is about families. It's about community. It's about the sense of place. It's about our economy. And it's about time Donald Trump grow up. It's about time Donald Trump understand what the hell he is doing," he added.
"And, so, I'm here in front of a church, on church grounds, mindful that our democracy is not on firm ground. And mindful of our responsibility to be assertive at this moment."
The governor also criticized Trump for sending troops to a U.S. city rather than overseas.
"He deployed roughly 5,000 military, not overseas. In fact, his entire first term the president of the United States did not even send military boots on the ground overseas his entire first term. [In] the first six months of his administration, he decides to send them to the United States of America."
He said the deployment "is a preview of things to come."
"If you think this is about California, you are fooling yourself. These are operations you're going to see all across the United States of America," Newsom added. "This cruelty, isn't about terrorizing communities. It's about appearing tough."
The governor also said he wanted to regain control over "my National Guard or your National Guard."
"I want to get them back under my control so we can get them back doing the kind of work to control wildfires, to keep our community safe, to address the issue of counter-narcotics, to address the issue of fentanyl," he said.
In response, Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman, told Fox News Digital in an emailed statement that Newsom "is on the wrong side of history, and he will have to answer for his atrocious policies."
"This is what's actually harming our communities: Gavin Newscum's pro-criminal illegal alien policies," said Jackson, adding the governor "recently protested a successful immigration raid at a California marijuana farm that rescued children who were victims of labor exploitation and detained rapists, pedophiles and other criminals.
"The American people elected President Trump to deport these sick criminals, and a vast majority of American voters — including Democrats — support these policies."