In their own words: Trump, Newsom trade insults and barbs over National Guard in Los Angeles

The swiftly evolving situation in the Los Angeles area over protests surrounding immigration enforcement actions has also cued up a public spat between President Donald Trump and Gov. Gavin Newsom, the California governor who has been one of the Republican president’s most vocal Democratic critics.

After Trump on Sunday called up 2,000 National Guard troops to respond, Newsom said he would sue the administration, a promise on which the state followed through a day later. Trump cited a legal provision that allows him to mobilize federal service members when there is “a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States.” The president also agreed with one of his top advisers that maybe the governor should be arrested.

Here’s a look at back-and-forth between Trump and Newsom in their own words:

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The troops

“You have violent people, and we’re not gonna let them get away with it.” — Trump, Sunday, in remarks to reporters in Morristown, New Jersey.

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Newsom’s ire has been elevated over Trump’s decision to, without his support, call up the California National Guard for deployment into his state. In a letter Sunday, Newsom called on Trump to rescind the Guard deployment, calling it a “serious breach of state sovereignty.”

The governor, who was in Los Angeles meeting with local law enforcement and other officials, also told protesters they were playing into Trump’s plans and would face arrest for violence or property destruction.

“Trump wants chaos and he’s instigated violence,” he said. “Stay peaceful. Stay focused. Don’t give him the excuse he’s looking for.”

In an interview with MSNBC, Newsom said Sunday he had spoken with Trump “late Friday night,” after the protests had begun, but said deploying the National Guard “never came up.”

“We talked for almost 20 minutes, and he — barely, this issue never came up. I mean, I kept trying to talk about LA, he wanted to talk about all these other issues,” Newsom said. “We had a very decent conversation.”

“He never once brought up the National Guard,” Newsom said of Trump, calling him “a stone-cold liar.”

Saying, “I did call him the other night,” Trump told reporters Sunday that he told Newsom in that call: “’Look you’ve got to take care of this. Otherwise I’m sending in the troops.’ ... That’s what we did.”

On Monday, Trump posted on social media that Los Angeles would have been “completely obliterated” without his intervention and referred to Newsom as “Newscum,” a pejorative moniker he has used to refer to the governor.

The lawsuit

“We are suing Donald Trump. This is a manufactured crisis. He is creating fear and terror to take over a state militia and violate the U.S. constitution.” — Newsom, Monday, X post.

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As Newsom promised, California officials sued the Trump administration on Monday, with the state’s attorney general, Rob Bonta, arguing that the deployment of troops “trampled” on the state’s sovereignty and pushing for a restraining order. The initial deployment of 300 National Guard troops was expected to quickly expand to the full 2,000 that were authorized by Trump. Late Monday, Trump authorized an additional 2,000 National Guard troops.

Ahead of that move, Newsom accused the president of inflaming tensions, breaching state sovereignty and wasting resources, while warning protesters not to “take Trump’s bait.”

Teasing the suit, Newsom told MSNBC that he saw the deployment as “an illegal act, an immoral act, an unconstitutional act.”

Asked Monday about the lawsuit, Trump said it was “interesting” and argued “that place would be burning down” without the federal government’s intervention.

“I’m very happy I got involved,” Trump added. “I think Gavin in his own way is very happy I got involved.”

The possible arrest?

“I think it’s great. Gavin likes the publicity, but I think it would be a great thing.” — Trump, Monday, in remarks to reporters.

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Tom Homan, the Trump administration’s border czar, previously warned that anyone, including public officials, would be arrested if they obstructed federal immigration enforcement.

Newsom’s initial response to Homan, during the MSNBC interview and in subsequent posts on his own social media: “Come and get me, tough guy.”

On Monday Trump seemed to agree with his border chief, telling reporters, “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 added. “He’s done a terrible job. Look — I like Gavin, he’s a nice guy, but he’s grossly incompetent, everybody knows.”

Homan later said there was “no discussion” about actually arresting Newsom, but reiterated that “no one’s above the law.”

Reposting a video of Trump’s comments about arresting him, Newsom wrote Monday on X that they represented “a day I hoped I would never see in America” and said Trump’s call for his arrest marked “an unmistakable step toward authoritarianism.”

The arrest questions — and insults — continued later Monday after an event at the White House, when Trump told reporters that Newsom’s “primary crime is running for governor, because he did such a bad job.”

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Kinnard can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP