California Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sunday night challenged Donald Trump’s border czar to arrest him and added the state would sue the president’s administration over the deployment of the National Guard.
National Guard troops were deployed to the streets of Los Angeles earlier Sunday to help quell a third day of protests over the Trump administration's immigration enforcement, a step Newsom called unlawful.
In an interview with MSNBC, Newsom said he planned to sue the administration over the deployment, adding that Trump "has created the conditions" around the protests.
Newsom accused Trump of trying to manufacture a crisis and violating California's state sovereignty. "These are the acts of a dictator, not a president," he wrote in a post on X.
Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, warned that anyone preventing immigration enforcement from deporting illegal migrants would be subject to arrest and prosecution. He added that included Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.
Newsom responded by urging Homan to "just get it over with" and move ahead with the arrest.
"He's a tough guy. Why doesn’t he do that? He knows where to find me," Newsom told MSNBC late Sunday. "That kind of bloviating is exhausting. So, Tom, arrest me. Let's go."
Bass said that although she opposed the decision to deploy National Guard troops, she has no interest in fighting the federal government.
"He [Homan] had absolutely positively no reason to even say that," Bass said, NBC News reported. "I spoke to him last night. He understands that I am the mayor of the city; the last thing in the world I’m going to do is get into a brawl with the federal government. So that just made no sense. There was no reason for that comment."
Police were making more arrests after at least 10 on Sunday and 29 the previous night, Los Angeles police officers told a news briefing.
Newsom said he requested the Trump administration to withdraw its order to deploy 2,000 National Guard troops in Los Angeles county, calling it unlawful.
However, Police Chief Jim McDonnell told a media briefing on Sunday night that the protests were getting out of control.
Asked if the National Guard was needed, McDonnell said police would not "go to that right away," but added, "Looking at the violence tonight, I think we've got to make a reassessment."
In a social media post, Trump called on McDonnell to do so.
"He should, right now!!!" Trump added. "Don’t let these thugs get away with this. Make America great again!!!"
The White House disputed Newsom's characterization, saying in a statement, "Everyone saw the chaos, violence and lawlessness."
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