United States President Donald Trump “added fuel to the fire” by sending the National Guard to break up protests in Los Angeles, California Governor Gavin Newsom said in a commentary on MSNBC released on 9 June.
He condemned the destruction of property during the protests, but also blamed Trump for “creating the conditions you see on TV.”
Newsom also confirmed in a commentary that his administration plans to sue Trump over the National Guard deployment. He said legislation requires the federal government to coordinate the deployment of National Guardsmen with state authorities.
“There’s a protocol, a process. It doesn’t bother him (Trump – ed.). What’s worse is that he lied – he shut up (said on social media X – ed.) that everything is safe now, everything is fine. Or is it, Mr Trump? Because he commandeered the National Guard. The National Guard wasn’t even deployed when he said that,” the governor stated.
He called bringing in the National Guard without the governor’s approval “illegal, immoral and unconstitutional,” and added that the lawsuit was planned to be filed Monday morning.
Tensions over the Los Angeles protests escalated on 8 June, when thousands of protesters took to the streets in opposition to US President Donald Trump’s administration’s anti-immigration policies. The protests continued despite Trump’s decision to deploy National Guard units to Los Angeles, despite objections to the move from local authorities.
The White House said Trump signed a presidential memorandum to send National Guard units to Los Angeles “to restore order and eliminate the lawlessness that has been allowed to take root”. Pentagon chief Pete Hagseth said Marine Corps units based at Camp Pendleton have been put on high alert.
The protests highlighted the standoff between the Trump administration, which has been cracking down hard on illegal immigration, and authorities in Los Angeles, which has a significant Latino and foreign-born population.
President Trump has previously pledged to conduct large-scale deportations of illegal immigrants and completely shut down the southern border of the United States. According to the White House, ICE has been tasked with making at least three thousand detentions a day. However, Trump’s critics say the raids detain not only illegal immigrants, but also people with legal status, including residency permit holders. These cases have been the subject of lawsuits.