In an interview Sunday evening on MSNBC, Newsom said the lawsuit would challenge the president’s authority to take control of the Guard, warning that the order could be used to federalise National Guard forces in any state.
“Donald Trump has created the conditions you see on your TV tonight. He’s exacerbated the conditions. He’s, you know, lit the proverbial match. He’s putting fuel on this fire, ever since he announced he was taking over the National Guard,” Newsom said.The protests in Los Angeles erupted in response to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids that began Friday. By Sunday, thousands of demonstrators had taken to the streets, at one point blocking a freeway and setting self-driving cars on fire. Police used tear gas, rubber bullets, and flash-bangs to disperse the crowds, which broke up after the city declared the protests an unlawful assembly.
Newsom took to X (formerly Twitter) on Monday morning to reinforce his stance: “He flamed the fires and illegally acted to federalize the National Guard. The order he signed doesn’t just apply to CA. It will allow him to go into ANY STATE and do the same thing. We’re suing him.”
President Trump responded early Monday with a call to bring in the military. Posting on his platform Truth Social just after midnight, he wrote: “Looking really bad in L.A. BRING IN THE TROOPS!!!”
Later on Monday afternoon, Trump doubled down, attacking Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. “The very incompetent ‘Governor,’ Gavin Newscum, and ‘Mayor,’ Karen Bass, should be saying, ‘THANK YOU, PRESIDENT TRUMP, YOU ARE SO WONDERFUL. WE WOULD BE NOTHING WITHOUT YOU, SIR,’” Trump posted. “Instead, they choose to lie to the People of California and America by saying that we weren’t needed, and that these are ‘peaceful protests.’ Just one look at the pictures and videos of the Violence and Destruction tells you all you have to know.”
Trump insisted that sending the National Guard was necessary to keep citizens safe, saying, “We will always do what is needed to keep our Citizens SAFE, so we can, together, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
