‘Arrest me, tough guy!’: Gov Newsom calls Trump’s border czar’s bluff amidst LA protests

Tensions rose quickly in Los Angeles after federal agents carried out a series of large immigration raids. The raids focused on immigrant communities and led to widespread protests, which resulted in clashes between demonstrators and police. The situation grew much more serious when President Trump sent 2,000 National Guard troops to the city, a decision that ignored and upset California state officials.

At the heart of the growing conflict is a heated argument between California Governor Gavin Newsom and the Trump administration’s border leader, Tom Homan. According to The Daily Beast, Homan issued a strong warning, “I’ll say about anybody, you cross that line; it’s a felony to knowingly harbor and conceal an illegal alien. It’s a felony to impede law enforcement doing their job.” This warning was aimed directly at Governor Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, accusing them of interfering with federal operations.

Governor Newsom responded boldly to Homan’s threat, daring him to act on it. Newsom said to NBC, “He’s a tough guy. Why doesn’t he do that? He knows where to find me. That kind of bloviating is exhausting. So, Tom, arrest me. Let’s go.” Newsom described his actions as standing up for his community and resisting what he called aggressive tactics by the federal government. He also said the situation had been made worse unnecessarily.

California governor isn’t afraid of bullying from border officials

The protests themselves have been chaotic. Dozens of people were arrested over the weekend, and there were reports of violence, including people throwing objects at police and damaging vehicles. Newsom said he was troubled by the violence but also blamed President Trump for causing the unrest by sending National Guard troops without talking to state leaders first.

Mayor Bass, while also disagreeing with the National Guard deployment, responded more calmly. She called Homan’s threat unnecessary and said she did not want to make the conflict with the federal government worse. She stressed the importance of calming tensions and having discussions. Bass’s approach was more diplomatic compared to Newsom’s direct confrontation.

A major disagreement involves Newsom’s version of a phone call with President Trump before the National Guard was sent. Newsom said the topic of troop deployment never came up during their conversation, which directly conflicts with the administration’s actions. Newsom said “We talked for almost 20 minutes, and he barely — this issue never came up, we had a very decent conversation.”

He accused the president of lying and misrepresenting their discussion. The disagreement shows how badly communication and cooperation between state and federal leaders have broken down.