Trump hints would arrest Gavin Newsom, 'great decision' deploying National Guard to California
On Saturday, Tom Homan, the administration's border czar, threatened to arrest anyone who obstructs immigration enforcement efforts in the state, including Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.
US President Donald Trump said on Monday he made "a great decision" sending the National Guard to handle unrest in California that erupted over the weekend over his immigration policies.
"If we had not done so, Los Angeles would have been completely obliterated," Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
Trump on Monday suggested that he would support an arrest of California Governor Gavin Newsom amid pro-immigration protests in the state, which prompted the president to deploy the National Guard.
Trump border czar Tom Homan on Saturday threatened to arrest anyone who obstructed enforcement efforts in the state, including Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. Both sharply criticized the Republican president's deployment of National Guard troops to Los Angeles.
"I would do it if I were Tom. I think it's great. Gavin likes the publicity but I think it would be a great thing," Trump said when he returned to the White House.
Newsom: 'An unmistakable step towards authoritarianism'
"I don’t care if you’re a Democrat or a Republican this is a line we cannot cross as a nation — this is an unmistakable step toward authoritarianism," Newsom said in a post on X.
