Members of the California National Guard deploy tear gas to protesters in downtown Los Angeles, today NZT. Photo / Gabriela Bhaskar, the New York Times
It is the fight President Donald Trump had been waiting for, a showdown with a top political rival in a deep blue state over an issue core to his political agenda.
In bypassing the authority of Governor Gavin Newsom of California, a Democrat, to call in the National Guard to quell protests in the Los Angeles area over his Administration’s efforts to deport more migrants, Trump is now pushing the boundaries of presidential authority and stoking criticism that he is inflaming the situation for political gain.
Local and state authorities had not sought help in dealing with the scattered protests that erupted after an immigration raid on Saturday NZT in the garment district.
But Trump and his top aides leaned into the confrontation with California leaders yesterday, portraying the demonstrations as an existential threat to the country – setting in motion an aggressive federal response that in turn sparked new protests across the city today.
As more demonstrators took to the streets, the President wrote on social media that Los Angeles was being “invaded and occupied” by “violent, insurrectionist mobs”, and directed three of his top Cabinet officials to take any actions necessary to “liberate Los Angeles from the Migrant Invasion”.
“Nobody’s going to spit on our police officers. Nobody’s going to spit on our military,” Trump told reporters as he headed to Camp David, although it was unclear whether any such incidents had occurred. “That happens, they get hit very hard.”
The President declined to say whether he planned to invoke the 1807 Insurrection Act, which allows for the use of federal troops on domestic soil to quell a rebellion. But either way, he added, “we’re going to have troops everywhere”.
Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, posted on social media that “this is a fight to save civilisation”.
Trump’s decision to deploy at least 2000 members of the California National Guard is the latest example of his willingness and, at times, an eagerness to shatter norms to pursue his political goals and bypass limits on presidential power.
The last President to send in the National Guard for a domestic operation without a request from the state’s governor, Lyndon B. Johnson, did so in 1965, to protect civil rights demonstrators in Alabama.
But aides and allies of the President say the events unfolding in Los Angeles provide an almost perfect distillation of why Trump was elected in November.
“It could not be clearer,” said Newt Gingrich, the former Republican House speaker and ally of the President who noted that Trump had been focused on immigration enforcement since 2015.
“One side is for enforcing the law and protecting Americans, and the other side is for defending illegals and being on the side of the people who break the law.”
Sporadic protests have occurred across the country in recent days as federal agents have descended on Los Angeles and other cities searching workplaces for undocumented immigrants, part of an expanded effort by the Administration to ramp up the number of daily deportations.
On social media, Trump, his aides and allies have sought to frame the demonstrations against immigration officials on their own terms.
They have shared images and videos of the most violent episodes – focusing particularly on examples of protesters lashing out at federal agents – even as many remained peaceful.
Officials also zeroed in on demonstrators waving flags of other countries, including Mexico and El Salvador, as evidence of a foreign invasion.
“Illegal criminal aliens and violent mobs have been committing arson, throwing rocks at vehicles, and attacking federal law enforcement for days,” wrote Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary.
Newsom, whom the President refers to as “Newscum”, has long been a foil for Trump, who has repeatedly targeted California and its leader as emblematic of failures of the Democratic Party.
“We expected this, we prepared for this,” Newsom said in a statement to the New York Times.
“This is not surprising – for them to succeed, California must fail, and so they’re going to try everything in their tired playbook despite the evidence against them.”
Today, the Governor sent a letter to Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth formally requesting that Trump rescind the call-up of the National Guard, saying federal actions were inflaming the situation.
He was echoed by other Democratic officials, who said the mounting demonstrations were the result of Trump’s own actions.
The President and his aides “are masters of misinformation and disinformation”, Senator Alex Padilla of California, a Democrat, said in an interview.
“They create a crisis of their own making and come in with all the theatrics and cruelty of immigration enforcement.
“They should not be surprised in a community like Los Angeles they will be met by demonstrators who are very passionate about standing up for fundamental rights and due process.”
Republicans defended Trump’s moves, saying he was rightfully exercising his power to protect public safety.
“The President is extremely concerned about the safety of federal officials in LA right now who have been subject to acts of violence and harassment and obstruction,” Representative Kevin Kiley, a Republican of California, said.
He added: “We are in this moment because of a series of reckless decisions by California’s political leaders, the aiding and abetting the open-border policies of President Biden”.
Trump officials said that they were ready to escalate their response even more, if necessary.
Tom Homan, the President’s border tsar, suggested in an interview with NBC News that the Administration would arrest anyone, including public officials, who interfered with immigration enforcement activities, which he said would continue in California and across the country.
Trump appears to be deploying against California a similar playbook that he has used to punish universities, law firms, and other institutions and individuals that he views as political adversaries.
Last month, he threatened to strip “large scale” federal funding from California “maybe permanently” over the inclusion of transgender athletes in women’s sports.
And in recent days, his Administration said it would pull roughly US$4 billion ($6.6b) in federal funding for California’s high-speed train, which would further delay a project that has long been plagued by delays and funding shortages.
“Everything he’s done to attack California or anybody he fears isn’t supportive of him is going to continue to be an obsession of his,” Padilla said. “He may think it plays smart for his base, but it’s actually been bad for the country.”
White House officials said there was a different common denominator that explains Trump’s actions both against institutions like Harvard and immigration protests in Los Angeles.
“For years Democrat-run cities and institutions have failed the American people, by both choice and incompetence,” Abigail Jackson, a White House spokesperson, said in a statement.
“In each instance,” she added, “the president took necessary action to protect Americans when Democrats refused.”
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Written by: Tyler Pager
Photographs by: Gabriela Bhaskar
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