President Trump is getting the fight with California that he wants, as Democrats in the state criticize his decision to send the National Guard to Los Angeles without local approval to deal with protests surrounding raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The unfolding events hit at the heart of key issues that Trump basks in: Immigration and fighting liberal California Democrats.
You can also add in law-and-order, as Trump and his team accuses California Gov. Gavin Newsom and other local officials of being too soft on demonstrators destroying property and setting cars on fire.
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller on Sunday reposted several images meant to convey the chaos in L.A., including one showing huge plumes of smoke billowing from a burning vehicle as demonstrators watched, one with a Mexican flag. The caption to the tweet read “Let’s check in on how LAPD’s management of the ‘protests’ is going,” and criticized Newsom’s slamming of Trump’s decision to send the guard.
A second Miller retweet was from his White House colleague Taylor Budowich, who sent out a similar video of a masked protestor on a car surrounded by other burning cars and demonstrators in the streets. “Democrat management,” the tweet said.
Newsom has said California will sue the Trump administration over its deployment of the National Guard, while the White House maintains that Trump intervened at the right time to restore law and order and that the violent attacks had already escalated before he stepped in.
“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 — an illegal act, an immoral act, an unconstitutional act,” Newsom said on MSNBC.
Just a few days ago, Trump was battling negative coverage of his public feud with erstwhile ally Elon Musk. The violence in L.A. allowed him to rapidly shift gears, and put much of the focus on immigration even as his team pushed Congress to pass his signature legislation – which had triggered the battle with Musk.
“The riots in 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,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on X, calling for Senate passage of the House-passed “one, big beautiful bill” with its funding measures for border security.
The story even served to bring Musk back into the fold, with the tech mogul sending a number of supportive messages of the president that criticized Newsom and demonstrators.
Trump ran on a platform of mass deportations. Since then, ICE raids, arrests of migrants at immigration courts and lawsuits over deportations have been a major part of his first few months in office.
His administration has blamed Democrats, especially former Biden, for allowing what they call an “invasion” of migrants coming in at the U.S.-southern border and White House briefings have often begun with spotlighting a deported migrant who committed a crime in the U.S.
The images of masked demonstrators with Mexican flags falls right into this argument.
That the protests are in California is also good for Trump.
Trump has flirted with the idea of fining or nixing federal funding for the state, lashing out earlier this month after a transgender athlete was allowed to compete and win a high school track and field championship.
He also blamed Newsom, who is widely considered to be eying a presidential bid, for the wildfires that raged in the Los Angeles area in January and made his first trip as president to California to meet with him and survey damage. Newsom then visited Trump at the White House in February about aid for wildfire victims.
The White House is now blaming Newsom for the protests in Los Angeles, bashing him for suing the administration instead of focusing on solutions.
“Gavin Newsom’s feckless leadership is 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,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said.
Trump on Sunday didn’t rule out using the Insurrection Act, which allows the president to deploy the military and federalize the National Guard in the event of an insurrection. He had considered invoking the law in his first term, during the 2020 protests over police brutality, but at the time officials like former Defense Secretary Mark Esper pushed back.
“We’re going to have troops everywhere. We’re not going to let this happen to our country. We’re not going to let our country be torn apart like it was under Biden and his auto pen,” Trump said on Sunday.
The president also said that if California officials stand in the way of federal officials deporting migrants, they will face federal charges.
“We’re just going to see what happens. If we think there’s a serious insurrection …we’re going to have law and order,” he said.
California Democrats are responding to Trump by calling on residents to not turn to violent while protesting, arguing that the president’s move to bring in the national guard was meant to provoke the chaos.
“Angelenos — don’t engage in violence and chaos. Don’t give the administration what they want,” Mayor Karen Bass said on X.
Similarly, Newsom warned other states about Trump federalizing the National Guard and accused him of escalating the situation.
“This is exactly what Donald Trump wanted,” Newsom said on X. “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.”