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California Gov. Gavin Newsom is suing to prevent Donald Trump taking control of state National Guard units and using them against protesters opposed to the administration’s mass deportation efforts.
Newsom said violence in parts of Los Angeles over Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids and arrests is “exactly what Trump wanted.”
Police were braced for a fourth day of clashes on Monday, even after declaring the whole of downtown Los Angeles an unlawful assembly area after some demonstrators set cars alight and blocked freeways.
Newsom said the president had “flamed the fires and illegally acted to federalize the National Guard” with his weekend memorandum that brought at least 2,000 soldiers into federal service for two months to tackle “a form of rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States.”
The governor pointed out that Trump’s memorandum leaves open the possibility of using both National Guard and active duty military to quell protests nationwide.
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“It will allow him to go into ANY STATE and do the same thing,” Newsom said, adding: “We’re suing him.”
The state’s attorney general, Robert Bonta, said he was working “in partnership” with Newsom to ask the courts to “set aside the president’s unlawful action federalizing the California National Guard.”
In a statement announcing the litigation, Bonta called Trump’s order “unnecessary and counterproductive” as well as “deeply unfair to the members of the National Guard who are hard at work every day protecting our state, preparing for and responding to emergencies, and training so that, if called, they can fight our nation’s wars.”
“The President is trying to manufacture chaos and crisis on the ground for his own political ends. Federalizing the California National Guard is an abuse of the President’s authority under the law – and not one we take lightly. We’re asking a court to put a stop to the unlawful, unprecedented order,” he added.
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson hit back at the legal threat, accusing Newsom of “feckless leadership” that made him “directly responsible for the lawless riots and violent attacks on law enforcement in Los Angeles.”
“Instead of filing baseless lawsuits meant to score political points with his left-wing base, Newsom should focus on protecting Americans by restoring law and order to his state,” Jackson added.
For his part, Newsom had equally harsh words for Trump and top administration officials during an interview with Los Angeles-based actor turned progressive podcaster Brian Tyler Cohen in which he called Trump “unhinged” and referred to the White House and members of Trump’s cabinet as a “band of misfits.”
“This is serious. The people’s lives are at stake. The reputation of this country is at stake,” he said.
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Newsom also called Trump’s actions in Los Angeles “a preview for things to come.”
“This isn’t about LA per se. It’s about us today. It’s about you, everyone watching tomorrow … this guy’s unhinged,” he said.
“Donald Trump is unhinged right now, and this is just another proof point of that.”
ICE operations across Los Angeles County have so far resulted in the arrests of 118 accused illegal immigrants despite the clashes, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
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Trump on Monday said he and his team had “made a great decision” to use National Guard soldiers against what he called “violent, instigated riots in California” and claimed Los Angeles — the country’s second-largest city — would have been “completely obliterated” had he not done so.
Newsom, who is term-limited and widely thought to be mulling a run for the White House in the 2028 presidential election, has long been a foil for Trump and a lightning rod for attacks from conservatives who’ve taken pleasure in mocking the Golden State for various progressive initiatives and policies.
But the Golden State governor, who was once married to Kimberly Guilfoyle – Trump’s eldest son’s ex-fiancee, and nominee to become U.S. ambassador to Greece – has not shied away from confronting Trump officials.
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During an interview with NBC News on Sunday, he hit out at Trump’s White House “border czar,” Tom Homan, for threatening arrests of Democratic state and local officials if they “obstruct” ICE personnel on charges of violating federal laws against harboring illegal aliens or impeding law enforcement.
Newsom mocked Homan as a “tough guy” and said the former ICE official knows where to find him if needed.
“That kind of bloviating is exhausting. So, Tom, arrest me. Let’s go,” he said.
Newsom’s fellow Democratic governors have backed up his opposition to Trump’s use of National Guard personnel without consulting state governments.
Kansas Governor Laura Kelly, the chair of the Democratic Governors Association, along with vice-chair and Kentucky governor Andy Beshear and 21 other Democratic governors, called Trump’s move “an alarming abuse of power” and said it was “ineffective and dangerous” to activate National Guard personnel within a state’s own borders “without consulting or working with a state’s governor.”
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“It’s important we respect the executive authority of our country’s governors to manage their National Guards — and we stand with Governor Newsom who has made it clear that violence is unacceptable and that local authorities should be able to do their jobs without the chaos of this federal interference and intimidation,” they said.
