Newsom Gambles in Showdown With Trump Over Riots
Its impossible to prove - and thats why it may be Gov. Gavin Newsoms and other California Democrats perfect attack line against President Trump.
California Democrats, led by Newsom, are trying to pin the blame for a riots chaotic escalation on President Trumps decision to call in the National Guard to control it.
Newsom, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, and many other state and local politicians over the last 48 hours argued they had rioters in Los Angeles under control before President Trump usurped their authority by calling in the National Guard, a step they blame for inflaming tensions and causing even more violence and chaos.
Throwing aside all previous efforts to reconcile differences with the president, Newsom on Sunday called Trump a "stone-cold liar" over claims the two exchanged in a phone call, told Trumps border czar Tom Homan to "come and get me, tough guy" for threatening to arrest public officials who impede ICE raids, and blamed the increasing violence in Los Angeles over the weekend on Trumps decision to deploy the National Guard to Los Angeles without his consent.
Newsom on Sunday accused Trump of trying to create a chaotic spectacle and formally requested he rescind the National Guard order, which the president deployed in response to violent riots and attacks on Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents during and after raids in the area. At least 118 immigrants were arrested in ICE operations across the city over the past week, with angry protesters and agitators gathering outside businesses believed to have been raided.
Those crowds, only in the hundreds at first, lit a car on fire, waved Mexican and Palestinian flags, and hurled rocks at police with the activities escalating and attracting thousands of rioters over the weekend.
While Newsom on Sunday claimed that local police could have handled the situation without federal intervention, videos playing out on the local news showed thousands of protesters taking over the 101 freeway in downtown Los Angeles and throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails at police officers stranded in vehicles that were damaged and immobilized by the onslaught.
Before sundown Sunday night, rioters had destroyed several California Highway Patrol vehicles trying to re-open the freeway with hundreds of rocks thrown off freeway over-ramps.
Its been 60 years since a president has sent in Guard troops to deal with civil unrest without the cooperation from a states governor, but back then, the circumstances were far different. President Lyndon Johnson in 1965 deployed the Alabama National Guard to protect a march led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. from Selma to Montgomery, the states capital, after George Wallace, the states segregationist governor, declined to provide the protection.
Civil rights supporters argued Johnson was protecting the rioters from Wallaces callous disregard for their safety. This time around, support or opposition for the National Guards deployment is also deeply dividing the country, with Trumps critics arguing hes overstepping his presidential authority and instilling fear in immigrant communities with the aggressive ICE raids. Supporters, meanwhile, argue the Guard troops deployment is necessary to safeguard ICE agents, continue the crackdown on illegal immigration, and maintain peace.
In Los Angeles Sunday, Newsom continued to blame the escalating violence on the National Guards deployment even though troops remained posted outside the Federal Building, which includes an ICE detention center, and didnt join in police efforts to control the riots in other locales.
"We didnt have a problem until Trump got involved," Newsom asserted. "This is a serious breach of state sovereignty - inflaming tensions while pulling resources where theyre actually needed."
"Rescind the order. Return control to California," Newsom demanded.
Earlier Sunday, Newsom accused Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth of trying to provoke unrest, arguing Trump was trying to create a spectacle and "hoping for chaos."
Still, even Bass acknowledged that these were not peaceful protests - that two days of violent unrest had ensued before Trump called up the National Guard, a step she also described as inciting more violence.
"Its not peaceful for people to throw rocks or bottles," she said. "Thats not peaceful."
"I dont think theres any equivocating on non-violence," she added. "If you are going to entertain violence, if youre going to take over a freeway, then you are going to suffer the consequences of doing that."
The problem with Newsoms claim of local control of the riot and Basss insistence on consequences is local authorities abysmal track record of responding to recent unrest that had nothing to do with federal interference.
Over Memorial Day, a Los Angeles block party got so out of control that the mob vandalized train cars, businesses, and a police cruiser, injuring four police officers in the process. When the LA metros A Line stopped in South Los Angeles, troublemakers blocked trains, spray-painted the train cars exterior, banged on the windows, and set fire to a train-station roof. Police were called but made no arrests.
"Our officers were heavily outnumbered and so the decision was, clear the area rather than make arrests," Los Angeles Police Department Commander Lilian Carranza told reporters at the time.
The destructive scene wasnt a one-off.
After the Dodgers World Series win over the New York Yankees, the celebration turned ugly with revelers setting a metro bus on fire, looting several shops and throwing fireworks at police, scenes described as "absolute chaos" in downtown Los Angeles, according to a witness.
The lawlessness also isnt limited to Southern California. Last summer, partiers at least twice shut down the Bay Bridge in San Francisco around 2 a.m., with nearly 150 cars taking part in what police called a "side show" that involved setting off fireworks and cars doing donuts and other stunts. Just months earlier, a driver was viciously beaten and his car stolen during a similar takeover of the bridge.
On the campaign trail last year, Trump pledged that he wasnt going to tolerate left-wing lawlessness on American streets and would use his presidential powers to shut them down.
This weekend, the president made good on that promise, blaming the local Los Angeles police for a slow response and a failure to protect the federal ICE agents.
"Waiting several hours of LAPD to show up - or them telling us that theyre not going to back us up until they have an officer in a dangerous situation - is something that just isnt workable when you have violent protests going on," Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told CBS News.
The Trump administration, Noem added, isnt going to allow a redux of the 2020 summer of protests of George Floyds death when Black Lives Matters protests in Minnesota quickly spread unchecked throughout major cities across the country.
Over Newsoms objection, Trump federalized 2,000 California Guard soldiers, and Hegseth warned that U.S. Marines were also on "high alert" to deploy, readying active-duty military to engage against U.S. citizens on U.S. soil.
By Sunday morning, Trump was declaring victory and thanking the National Guard for restoring peace, even though they had yet to fully assemble. The speed with which Trump acted clearly demonstrates just how prepared and eager he is to have this fight. Trump doesnt have to run for reelection, and law and order and aggressive immigration enforcement only energize his base.
Newsom, who has a long history of clashes with Trump, is in a far more tenuous position. The likely 2028 presidential candidate has tried to moderate his positions on everything from trans athletes in girls and womens sports to cutting back health insurance for illegal immigrants - albeit the latter was forced by a multi-billion budget shortfall.
Newsom also is still waiting for Trump to provide the $40 billion in federal funds he requested to help Los Angeles rebuild from the wildfires.
"Newsom was trying to move to the middle on immigration, so this complicates his plans," Steve Maviglio, a longtime Democratic political consultant, told RealClearPolitics. "Clearly, Trump wants this fight. Its clear that Newsom is squirming - trying to figure out how he can be moderate on immigration and supportive of law enforcement while trying to defend protests that are turning violent."
"Its tricky, and thats why hes trying to portray this as an issue of states rights vs. federal intervention," he added.
As California Democrats lined up squarely behind immigrants rights over the weekend, Newsom was under pressure to come up with his own strong, anti-Trump stance.
Bass was one of the first out of the gates. On Saturday the mayor vowed to fight the immigration raids taking place across Los Angeles in an X.com post that garnered more than 26 million impressions.
"As mayor of a proud city of immigrants, who contribute to our city in so many ways, I am deeply angered by what has taken place," Bass wrote on Friday. "These tactics sow terror in our communities and disrupt basic principles of safety in our city. My office is in close coordination with immigrant rights community organizations. We will not stand for this."
The mayors statement drew immediate pushback from conservatives, with many pointing out criticisms of her leadership failures and citys lack of preparedness and response to the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles earlier this year that killed 30 people.
But dozens of prominent California Democrats backed up Bass. On Sunday, elected officials from the Bay Area to the San Diego southern border were condemning the ICE raids and Trumps National Guard deployment.
"Our city is being targeted because were a sanctuary city," Rep. Maxine Waters, who has represented Compton in Congress for more than three decades, said in a media interview. "Trump hates us. He does not like the city. Hes trying to intimidate us, and he sent his guns in here on us … we cant be intimidated. Weve got to get the people out [protesting.] Weve got to get the elected officials out. Weve got to resist them."
Garry South, a veteran Democratic operative who ran former Gov. Gray Davis successful campaigns, said Newsom has no choice but to push back on Trumps "unprecedented militarization of domestic policy."
"[Newsoms] doing it not for political benefit but because its the right thing to do," South said. "Its a fraught moment for our democracy, for a president to turn troops loose on the American people, and we better have a lot of people who step up and speak up, so we dont turn into Chile under [Gen.] Pinochet."
(Pinochet was a Chilean military officer and politician who was dictator of Chile from 1973 to 1981, using his power to persecute leftists and critics and resulting in the executions of 1,200 to 3,200 people, the internment of 80,000 and the torture of tens of thousands.)
As of late Sunday night, protesters and rioters were still clashing with police and National Guard units using non-lethal efforts, such as tear gas and pepper-spray balls, to force the crowds to comply with their demands to move or disperse.
Rob Stutzman, a GOP political consultant who served as deputy chief of staff to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, cautioned that the riots in Los Angeles this weekend are too fluid to predict political fallout.
"Its impossible to calculate at the moment," Stutzman argued. "Will the National Guard ever clash with rioters? How long will this go on? Are ICE raids going to remain focused on criminals? All of this has to play out before we see how the politics will work."
As night fell across Californias Southland, Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell held a press conference pleading with rioters to stop the violence. The LAPD had made only 39 arrests on Saturday and Sunday but pledged to step up arrests in the hours and days ahead.
McDonnell also denied that he failed to respond to ICE calls for assistance earlier in the weekend but argued that their response takes time to mobilize and is not "instantaneous."
"This violence Ive seen is disgusting," he said. "Its escalated since the beginning of this incident. What we saw the first night was bad, but what weve seen subsequent - that is getting increasingly worse and more violent."
McDonnell described commercial-grade fireworks being thrown at officers and rioters using hammers to break up cinder blocks to hurl at police. In the first two nights, McDonnell said they believe their forces would have been capable to handle the level of violence, but as it has escalated, he is now reassessing the need for the National Guard.
"We are overwhelmed, as far as the number of people out there engaged in this type of activity and they types of things theyre doing," he concluded.
Susan Crabtree is RealClearPolitics' national political correspondent.

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


Hamilton Spectator
32 minutes ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Dozens of LA-area mayors demand the Trump administration stop intensified immigration raids
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Dozens of mayors from across the Los Angeles region banded together Wednesday to demand that the Trump administration stop the stepped-up immigration raids that have spread fear across their cities and sparked protests across the U.S. But there were no signs President Donald Trump would heed their pleas. About 500 of the National Guard troops deployed to the Los Angeles protests have been trained to accompany agents on immigration operations , the commander in charge said Wednesday. And while some troops have already gone on such missions, he said it's too early to say if that will continue even after the protests die down. 'We are expecting a ramp-up,' said Maj. Gen. Scott Sherman, noting that protests across the nation were being discussed. 'I'm focused right here in LA, what's going on right here. But you know, I think we're, we're very concerned.' Hours later, a demonstration in Los Angeles' civic center just before start of the second night of the city's downtown curfew briefly turned chaotic when police in riot gear — many on horseback — charged at a group, striking them with wooden rods and later fired crowd control projectiles, including one that struck a woman who writhed in pain on the ground. After the curfew went into effect, a handful of arrests were made before the area cleared out and the evening quieted down. The LA-area mayors and city council members urged Trump to stop using armed military troops alongside immigration agents. 'I'm asking you, please listen to me, stop terrorizing our residents,' said Brenda Olmos, vice mayor of Paramount, who said she was hit by rubber bullets over the weekend. 'You need to stop these raids.' Speaking alongside the other mayors at a news conference, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said the raids spread fear at the behest of the White House. The city's nightly curfew will remain in effect as long as necessary. It covers a 1-square-mile (2.5-square-kilometer) section of downtown where the protests have been concentrated in the city that encompasses roughly 500 square miles (1,295 square kilometers). 'If there are raids that continue, if there are soldiers marching up and down our streets, I would imagine that the curfew will continue,' Bass said. Those who have been caught up in the nationwide raids include asylum seekers, people who overstayed their visas and migrants awaiting their day in immigration court. The administration has cited the protests in its decision to deploy the military. Governor asks court to step in California's Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, has asked a federal court to put an emergency stop to the military helping immigration agents in the nation's second-largest city. This week, guardsmen began standing protectively around agents as they carry out arrests. A judge set a hearing for Thursday. The Trump administration called the lawsuit a 'crass political stunt endangering American lives' in its official response on Wednesday. The military is now closer to engaging in law enforcement actions such as deportations, as Trump has promised in his crackdown . The Guard has the authority to temporarily detain people who attack officers, but any arrests must be made by law enforcement. The president posted on the Truth Social platform that the city 'would be burning to the ground' if he had not sent in the military. Some 2,000 National Guard soldiers are in Los Angeles and are soon to be joined by 2,000 more along with about 700 Marines, Sherman said. Speaking in an interview with The Associated Press and ABC, Sherman initially said National Guard troops had already temporarily detained civilians in the Los Angeles protests over immigration raids. He later said he based his comments on photos and footage he had seen that turned out not to be a representation of Guard members in Los Angeles. Curfew continues in downtown LA Police detained more than 20 people, mostly on curfew violations, on the first night of the curfew and used crowd-control projectiles to break up hundreds of protesters. But officers were more aggressive in controlling demonstrators Wednesday evening and as the curfew took effect, police were beginning to make arrests. Los Angeles police have made nearly 400 arrests and detentions since Saturday, the vast majority of which were for failing to leave the area at the request of law enforcement, according to the police department. There have been a handful of more serious charges, including for assault against police officers and for possession of a Molotov cocktail and a gun. Nine police officers have been hurt, mostly with minor injures. Some were transported to a hospital and released. Protests have spread nationwide Demonstrations have also spread to other cities nationwide, including Dallas and Austin in Texas, and Chicago and New York, where thousands rallied and more arrests were made. In New York City, police said they took 86 people into custody during protests in lower Manhattan that lasted into Wednesday morning. Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the majority of demonstrators were peaceful. A 66-year-old woman in Chicago was injured when she was struck by a car during downtown protests Tuesday evening, police said. Video showed a car speeding down a street where people were protesting. In Texas, where police in Austin used chemical irritants to disperse several hundred demonstrators Monday, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's office said Texas National Guard troops were 'on standby' in areas where demonstrations are planned. Guard members were sent to San Antonio, but Police Chief William McManus said he had not been told how many troops were deployed or their role ahead of planned protests Wednesday night and Saturday. Officers with the Texas Department of Public Safety said the Texas National Guard was present at a protest downtown. The protests began Friday after federal immigration raids arrested dozens of workers in Los Angeles. ___ Golden reported from Seattle. Associated Press writers Julie Watson in San Diego, Jesse Bedayn in Denver, and Jim Vertuno in Austin, Texas, contributed to this report. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .


Washington Post
33 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Cheers and boos as Trump takes seat at the Kennedy Center
Politics Cheers and boos as Trump takes seat at the Kennedy Center June 12, 2025 | 5:12 AM GMT As President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump took their seats at the Kennedy Center Opera House on June 11 for opening night of 'Les Misérables,' a mix of cheers and boos erupted from the crowd.


News24
35 minutes ago
- News24
Marines to patrol LA streets as some residents say: ‘Our city is not at all on fire'
US Marines will be on the streets of Los Angeles within days to help control protests. Democrats have condemned the Trump administration's action as authoritarian. Some in the city say the scale of the protests is exaggerated. US Marines will join National Guard troops on the streets of Los Angeles within two days, officials said on Wednesday, and would be authorised to detain anyone who interferes with immigration officers on raids or protesters who confront federal agents. US President Donald Trump ordered the deployments over the objections of California Governor Gavin Newsom, sparking a national debate about the use of the military on US soil and animating protests that have spread from Los Angeles to other major cities, including New York, Atlanta and Chicago. Los Angeles on Wednesday endured a sixth day of protests that have been largely peaceful but occasionally punctuated by violence, mostly contained to a few blocks of the city's downtown area. The protests broke out last Friday in response to a series of immigration raids. Trump in turn called in the National Guard on Saturday, then summoned the Marines on Monday. 'If I didn't act quickly on that, Los Angeles would be burning to the ground right now,' said Trump at an event at the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. READ | 'The president wants a big show': Trump sends in Marines as night curfew imposed on Los Angeles State and local leaders dispute that, saying Trump has only escalated tensions with an unnecessary and illegal deployment of federal troops, while Democrats nationally have condemned his action as authoritarian. AFP reported that six days after unrest began - prompting the US president to send soldiers into the streets, over the furious protests of local officials - life in the City of Angels was going on largely as normal. 'Everything is hunky dory right here at Ground Zero,' Lynn Sturgis, a retired teacher who was protesting outside the federal complex that has been at the heart of the demonstrations in Downtown Los Angeles, told AFP. Our city is not at all on fire, it's not burning down, as our terrible leader is trying to tell you. Lynn Sturgis 'Not at all... this is very calm,' protester Ellen Carpenter, a retired federal worker who was demonstrating alongside Sturgis, told AFP. 'I lived in Washington, DC for a long time, so I was part of very large protests there, you know, millions and millions of people. This is a little wimpy by comparison.' 'This whole thing has been manufactured by the current administration,' Sturgis said. According to Reuters, Trump is carrying out a campaign promise to deport immigrants, employing forceful tactics consistent with the norm-breaking political style that got him elected twice. 'President Trump promised to carry out the largest mass deportation campaign in American history and left-wing riots will not deter him in that effort,' White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt US military said on Wednesday that a battalion of 700 Marines had concluded training specific to the Los Angeles mission, including de-escalation and crowd control. They would join National Guard under the authority of a federal law known as Title 10 within 48 hours, not to conduct civilian policing but to protect federal officers and property, the military said. 'Title 10 forces may temporarily detain an individual in specific circumstances such as to stop an assault, to prevent harm to others, or to prevent interference with federal personnel performing their duties,' the Northern Command said. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement: 'If any rioters attack ICE law enforcement officers, military personnel have the authority to temporarily detain them until law enforcement makes the arrest.'US Army Major General Scott Sherman, who commands the task force of Marines and Guardsmen, told reporters the Marines will not carry live ammunition in their rifles, but they will carry live rounds. Newsom and the state of California have sued Trump and the Defence Department to stop the deployment, maintaining that none of the Title 10 conditions were met to justify military deployment - such as a when the US is under threat from a foreign invasion or rebellion. California is also seeking a temporary restraining order to immediately stop the National Guard and Marines from participating in civilian law enforcement. A hearing on that restraining order is scheduled for Thursday in San Francisco federal court. The Trump administration argued in a court filing ahead of the hearing that the president has the discretion to determine whether a 'rebellion or danger of a rebellion' requires a military downtown LA, shortly before the second night of a curfew over a 2.5km2 area, relative calm was broken. Police said demonstrators at one location threw commercial grade fireworks and rocks at officers. Another group of nearly 1 000 demonstrators were peacefully marching through downtown when police suddenly opened fired with less lethal munitions in front of City Hall. Marlene Lopez, 39, a Los Angeles native, was demonstrating as flash bangs exploded just a few metres away. 'I am out here because of the fact that our human rights are being violated every day. If we give up, it's over. We have to stand our ground here in LA so that the nation will follow us,' Lopez said. Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images Other protests have also taken place in Santa Ana, a largely Mexican-American city about 50km to the south, as well as major cities such as Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Seattle, Boston and Washington and San Antonio, Texas. New York police said an unknown number of people had been taken into custody on Wednesday. On Tuesday New York police said they took 86 people into custody, of which 34 were arrested and charged, while the others received a criminal court summons. The protests are set to expand on Saturday, when several activist groups have planned more than 1 800 anti-Trump demonstrations across the country. That day, tanks and other armoured vehicles will rumble down the streets of Washington, DC, in a military parade marking the US Army's 250th anniversary and coinciding with Trump's 79th birthday.