logo
Newsom Gambles in Showdown With Trump Over Riots

Newsom Gambles in Showdown With Trump Over Riots

Yahoo7 hours ago

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.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

GOP leaders cite L.A. immigration protests to push for quick passage of Trump's "big, beautiful bill"
GOP leaders cite L.A. immigration protests to push for quick passage of Trump's "big, beautiful bill"

CBS News

time13 minutes ago

  • CBS News

GOP leaders cite L.A. immigration protests to push for quick passage of Trump's "big, beautiful bill"

Washington — The White House and Republican leaders in Congress are urging lawmakers to quickly get behind the centerpiece of President Trump's legislative agenda, saying the ongoing immigration protests in Los Angeles adds urgency to the push to secure additional resources for border security. House Speaker Mike Johnson said on X on Monday that the legislation, which addresses Mr. Trump's tax, energy and immigration priorities, "provides the ESSENTIAL funding needed to secure our nation[']s borders." Republicans call the legislation the "one big, beautiful bill." "The lawlessness happening in LA is ANOTHER reason why we need to pass the One Big Beautiful Bill IMMEDIATELY," Johnson said, pledging that Congress will support Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents who he said are "fighting to keep Americans safe against illegal aliens AND the radical left." White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt shared a similar message earlier Monday, saying the scenes unfolding in some areas of Los Angeles "prove that we desperately need more immigration enforcement personnel and resources." "America must reverse the invasion unleashed by Joe Biden of millions of unvetted illegal aliens into our country," Leavitt said in a post on X. "That's why President Trump's One Big, Beautiful Bill funds at least one million annual removals and hires 10,000 new ICE personnel, 5,000 new customs officers, and 3,000 new Border Patrol agents." Speaker of the House Mike Johnson holds a press conference after the House narrowly passed a bill forwarding President Trump's agenda at the U.S. Capitol on May 22, 2025, in Washington, legislation is now in the hands of the Senate after the House narrowly approved it last month following weeks of intraparty disagreement over its components. Though the bulk of the funding allocated in the legislation goes toward tax cuts, it also includes resources aimed at bolstering border security and defense. It provides $46.5 billion for the border wall, $4.1 billion to hire Border Patrol agents and other personnel and more than $2 billion for signing and retention bonuses for agents. It also imposes an additional $1,000 fee for people who are filing for asylum in the U.S. The disagreement among Republicans over the bill has largely centered on cuts meant to offset the bill's spending, including restrictions to Medicaid. In the House's razor-thin GOP majority, the disagreements threatened to tank the bill's progress at every stage. And as the bill moved to the Senate for consideration last week, Johnson warned the upper chamber against making significant changes that would throw off the delicate balance. Senate Republicans initially voiced support for separating the complicated tax components and border security provisions into two separate bills to deliver Mr. Trump a victory on immigration early on in his tenure. But House Republicans opposed the approach, expressing doubts that the president's agenda could pass through the narrow GOP majority in the lower chamber in separate parts. Senate Republicans are now seeking to amend the House-passed bill, sending it back to the House for approval with a goal of getting the legislation to the president's desk by the July 4 holiday. And with a 53-seat majority, the upper chamber can afford to lose just three Republicans. Last week, opposition from Elon Musk threatened to throw a wrench into the legislation's progress, after he stoked concerns by fiscal hawks about the bill's impact on the deficit. The episode, which began with Musk calling the bill "a disgusting abomination," erupted into a dramatic and public feud between Musk and the president last week. But the dispute did not appear to spark significant new opposition the the bill in Congress. The urgency expressed Monday surrounding securing additional border resources comes as Mr. Trump called for the National Guard to enforce order in the L.A. area amid protests over activity by ICE, prompting a clash with California Gov. Gavin Newsom. Newsom warned that the move would inflame the situation, while urging that there is no shortage of law enforcement. The governor indicated late Sunday that his office plans to sue the Trump administration over Mr. Trump's move. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem defended the president's move on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" Sunday, claiming Newsom "has proven that he makes bad decisions." "The president knows that [Newsom] makes bad decisions, and that's why the president chose the safety of this community over waiting for Gov. Newsom to get some sanity," Noem added.

Kash Patel Sends Ominous Threat in Response to L.A. Protests
Kash Patel Sends Ominous Threat in Response to L.A. Protests

Yahoo

time17 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Kash Patel Sends Ominous Threat in Response to L.A. Protests

The FBI says it will act on its own to squash the Los Angeles anti-ICE protests. FBI Director Kash Patel issued an ominous threat to the city and its residents late Sunday night, claiming that his agency would intervene in the multiday anti-Trump display without explicit direction. 'Just so we are clear, this FBI needs no one's permission to enforce the constitution,' Patel posted on X. 'My responsibility is to the American people, not political punch lines. LA is under siege by marauding criminals, and we will restore law and order. I'm not asking you, I'm telling you.' In a move that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem should agree with, California announced it would sue the federal government Monday, arguing that the Trump administration's order to send hundreds of National Guard troops toward Los Angeles, without coordination with the state's governor, was an unconstitutional breach of power. Hours earlier, FBI Public Affairs Assistant Director Ben Williamson shared that Patel had gotten off a call with 'senior leadership' addressing what they referred to as 'riots' in L.A., specifying that Patel and FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino had 'offered all necessary resources from FBI HQ' to address the situation. Williamson said the pair 'reiterated the position that any perpetrator who attacks or interferes with law enforcement will be aggressively pursued and brought to justice.' Bongino made it plain that one of the agency's primary targets would be individuals suspected of assaulting officers, writing on X that he and Patel had notified all FBI teams to pursue suspected individuals 'long after order is firmly established.' 'We will not forget. Even after you try to,' Bongino posted. But Republicans have so far not been very successful at pinpointing wrongdoing in Los Angeles. Instead, some viral videos circulating in conservative circles of protest-related violence in the city are actually not from the weekend at all, but were instead taken in 2020 during the Black Lives Matter protests.

500 Marines ‘prepared to deploy' to LA: Northern Command
500 Marines ‘prepared to deploy' to LA: Northern Command

Yahoo

time17 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

500 Marines ‘prepared to deploy' to LA: Northern Command

Approximately 500 U.S. Marines are 'prepared to deploy' to Los Angeles amid rising tensions between protesters and law enforcement over President Trump's immigration policies, according to a statement from U.S. Northern Command. The Marines are 'in a prepared to deploy status should they be necessary to augment and support the [Defense Department's] protection of federal property and personnel efforts,' reads the statement released Sunday. The notice came a day after Trump announced he had authorized the deployment of approximately 2,000 California Army National Guard troops, 300 of whom were deployed Sunday at three locations in the Los Angeles area: Los Angeles, Paramount and Compton. The federalization of the California National Guard represents a rare and legally murky step that bypassed the consent of California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), who said Sunday evening that he plans to bring a lawsuit against the Trump administration for bypassing him. The last time the federal government mobilized National Guard members without the consent of a governor was in 1965, when former President Lyndon Johnson sent Guard members to Selma, Ala., to protect civil rights protesters there. The National Guard is relatively limited in its scope, since members are deployed specifically to protect federal buildings, which includes the downtown Los Angeles detention center where much of the unrest centered. The military is generally barred from carrying out domestic law enforcement duties. Declaring the Insurrection Act is seen as a potential path around those restrictions. Trump did not rule out invoking the Insurrection Act during a gaggle with reporters before boarding Air Force One on Sunday, but he suggested the current protests against immigration raids had not yet risen to insurrection. Shortly after the gaggle, Trump issued a statement on Truth Social claiming that 'violent, insurrectionist mobs are swarming and attacking our Federal Agents to try and stop our deportation operations.' He said he directed relevant Cabinet officials, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, 'to take all such action necessary to liberate Los Angeles from the Migrant Invasion, and put an end to these Migrant riots.' Hegseth said Sunday morning that Marines were ready to be deployed to Los Angeles if needed. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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