Trump backs potential arrest of California governor (VIDEO)
US President Donald Trump has backed a proposal by White House border czar Tom Homan to have California Governor Gavin Newsom arrested for allegedly obstructing the administration's immigration enforcement efforts.
Homan, the White House executive associate director of enforcement and removal operations, earlier said the governor and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass could face federal charges for attempting to impede immigration agents.
This marked a sharp escalation following the president's decision to deploy the National Guard and active-duty Marines to help quell riots sparked by the arrests of suspected illegal immigrants.
'I would do it if I were Tom. I think it's great,' Trump said, responding to a reporter's question about whether he endorses Homan's proposal to arrest state officials who interfere with federal immigration raids.
'Gavin likes the publicity but I think it would be a great thing. He's done a terrible job… Look, I like Gavin Newsom, he's a nice guy, but he's grossly incompetent.'
Trump's remarks come as Los Angeles enters its fourth straight day of protests, which began on Friday after the immigration authorities arrested over 40 people at a Home Depot parking lot and a clothing factory for allegedly using false documents. Demonstrations against Trump's immigration policy quickly escalated into looting and violent clashes with police.
Similar protests have erupted in cities across the nation, including San Francisco, New York, Atlanta, Seattle, Dallas, and Louisville.
Tensions rose after Homan warned that officials, including Newsom and Bass, could face arrest if they obstruct federal operations.
'It's a felony to knowingly harbor and conceal an illegal alien' and to impede law enforcement from 'doing their job,' Homan told NBC News on Saturday. He added that neither official has 'crossed the line yet.'
Newsom dismissed Homan's threat in an interview on Sunday with MSNBC, urging him to 'just get it over with' and make the arrest.
'He's a tough guy. Why doesn't he do that? He knows where to find me,' Newsom said. 'That kind of bloviating is exhausting. So, Tom, arrest me. Let's go.'
He also blasted the deployment of an additional 2,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles, bypassing the governor's authority, calling it a 'serious breach of state sovereignty.'
Newsom, a Democrat and potential 2028 presidential candidate, filed a federal lawsuit in San Francisco on Monday against Trump, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and the Defense Department, aiming to overturn the president's order to deploy the National Guard.
In a post on X, Newsom wrote that Trump 'flamed the fires and illegally acted to federalize the National Guard.'
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