Trump’s Guard deployment to LA puts California Governor Gavin Newsom in political predicament

LOS ANGELES – Soon after scattered protests broke out in Los Angeles on June 6 in the wake of federal immigration raids, US President Donald Trump and California Governor Gavin Newsom spoke by phone.

Mr Trump never mentioned any federal response, according to Mr Newsom, who described the conversation as “very cordial” on MSNBC on June 8.

Twenty-four hours later, Mr Trump ordered thousands of National Guard troops to the state, bypassing Mr Newsom and igniting another firestorm over his aggressive efforts to deport migrants living in the US illegally.

For Mr Newsom, governor of the nation’s most populous state and a potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidate, Mr Trump’s gambit has created substantial political risks.

Throughout Mr Trump’s first and second terms, Democratic governors have struggled to find the most effective approach to dealing with the mercurial Republican President; confronting Mr Trump can result in backlash, but conceding ground sometimes encourages him to push harder.

Mr Newsom and Mr Trump have often clashed in the past, with Mr Trump calling the governor “Newscum” and Mr Newsom declaring after Mr Trump’s election victory that he would “Trump-proof” California.

During Mr Trump’s first months in office, however, Mr Newsom has often opted for appeasement rather than antagonism – meeting the President on the tarmac when Mr Trump visited during

January’s devastating wildfires

and interviewing leading Mr Trump acolytes such as Mr Charlie Kirk and Mr Steve Bannon on his new podcast.

But Mr Trump’s decision to send troops into California – the first time in decades that a president had done so absent a request from a governor – and his claim that Los Angeles was being “invaded” by violent mobs appear to have convinced Mr Newsom to abandon his conciliatory approach.

“I’ve always wanted to approach engagement with the president of the United States in a respectful and responsible way,” Mr Newsom told MSNBC on June 8. “But there’s no working with the president, there’s only working for him – and I will never work for Donald Trump.”

Speaking to reporters on June 9, Mr Trump said Mr Newsom was incompetent and that

he should be arrested.

“I think his primary crime is running for governor because he’s done such a bad job,” Mr Trump said when asked what crime Mr Newsom had committed.

‘A delicate act’

The state sued Mr Trump on June 9

, seeking to force him to rescind the Guard deployment. Meanwhile, about 700 Marines will be sent to Los Angeles until more Guard personnel can arrive, a US official said.

Mr Newsom is trying to navigate choppy political waters, according to strategists from both parties. As the governor of California, a deep-blue Democratic state that Mr Trump has gleefully caricatured at every opportunity, Mr Newsom could struggle to appeal to swing voters as a national candidate without moderating his image.

There is also the risk that angering Mr Trump could harm Mr Newsom’s 39 million constituents; the governor is still waiting for federal funding to help rebuild after the wildfires, while the President recently threatened to cut the state’s education funding after a transgender girl competed in a girls’ track and field championship event.

At the same time,

Democratic voters want to see their leaders fight tooth and nail

against what they see as Mr Trump’s lawlessness and corruption.

“He’s serving his own ambitions as well as the state of California, and those two things don’t often coincide,” said Mr Steven Maviglio, a longtime Democratic consultant in the state. “It’s a dilemma for Newsom.”

The protests allowed Mr Trump to tout his hardline immigration policies while claiming California was helpless to stop the violence without his intervention.

“On this one, I think the President has really checkmated the governor,” Mr Maviglio added. “This fed right into his scenario of what California is all about... a wildly liberal state with lawlessness and immigrants and no rules.”

Mr Jon Fleischman, a Republican strategist and former executive director of the state Republican Party, said images of burning cars and protesters waving Mexican flags only served to bolster Mr Trump’s position. Mr Newsom, he argued, had taken Mr Trump’s bait by blaming him for the escalation of violence.

“Donald Trump can’t force somebody to throw a rock at a police car,” he added.

Other Democratic governors have grappled with similar predicaments under Mr Trump’s administration.

In April, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, also seen as a potential 2028 presidential candidate, visited the White House to discuss the future of a military base in her state, but was caught by surprise in the Oval Office when Mr Trump signed executive orders targeting his political enemies. A photograph of the governor covering her face from cameras went viral.

“Balancing your state’s needs and working with President Trump, if you’re a Democratic governor, is always going to be a delicate act,” said Mr Chris Meagher, a Democratic communications consultant.

“I think the more that Governor Newsom can keep his head down and do the work and show that he has the situation under control, the better off that he’s going to be.” REUTERS