California Gov. Gavin Newsom is not holding back as top Republican officials criticize his handling of the increasingly hostile protests over President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.
In addition to his ongoing feud with Trump, who suggested the Democrat be arrested, Newsom has responded to sweeping criticism by Vice President JD Vance, U.S. Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas and other GOP officials.
The tension between the Golden State and federal regulators comes after the Trump Administration deployed National Guard troops to crack down on violent protests against immigration raids in LA. Around 700 U.S. Marines and 2,000 National Guardsmen have been ordered to mobilize protestors in the area after the president already authorized the deployment of 2,000 guardsmen.
The San Francisco native criticized the president’s comment Monday, June 9 that “it would be a great thing” for border czar Tom Homan to arrest him.
“The President of the United States just called for the arrest of a sitting Governor. This is a day I hoped I would never see in America,” he wrote on X. “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 for most of the day fired back with all tools in his arsenal, including 800 additional police officers, a lawsuit and invectives warning Trump is acting like a “dictator.”
“Los Angeles: don’t take Trump’s bait. Trump wants chaos and he’s instigated violence,” Newsom said in a post on X. “Stay peaceful. Stay focused. Don’t give him the excuse he’s looking for.”
White House Communications director Stephen Cheung took to social media to accuse Newsom of being “the biggest cuck in American politics,” a centuries-old insult that the Merriam-Webster dictionary defines in a few different ways, none of them flattering. Cheung accused Newsom of allowing “domestic terrorists to desecrate and defile communities across CA.”
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said the Marines are being sent “due to increased threats to federal law enforcement officers and federal buildings, approximately 700 active-duty… are being deployed to Los Angeles to restore order.”
“We have an obligation to defend federal law enforcement officers – even if Gavin Newsom will not,” Hegseth said. The post was viewed more than 3 million times within four hours.
Trump and Newsom have often clashed but the showdown over Los Angeles marks a new low in their heated relationship. In a lawsuit, Newsom says the Trump administration is violating California’s sovereignty.
“One of the cornerstones of our Nation and our democracy is that our people are governed by civil, not military, rule,” the lawsuit says. Trump “used a protest that local authorities had under control to make another unprecedented power grab.”
Newsom used the official governor of California website to skewer the president over sending federal troops to the state without the governor’s consent, saying he would send 800 state and police officers “to clean up President Trump’s mess.”
Here’s a breakdown of who Newsom has clashed with on social media.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom gestures while speaking at the Clinton Elementary School in Compton, California on June 5, 2025. / Vice President JD Vance speaks at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. on June 3, 2025.
Vice President Vance urged the California governor control the chaos that escalated in the state himself before blaming Trump or the White House’s action.
“Do your job. That’s all we’re asking,” Vance wrote.
Less than two hours later Newsom replied “Do YOUR job. We didn’t have a problem until Trump got involved. Rescind the order. Return control to California.”
Vance later responded to a video shared by Homeland Security’s official X account of a masked demonstrator holding a Mexico flag while standing on top of a graffitied vehicle as burning cars line the street.
“This administration will not be intimidated by lawlessness,” he wrote. “We will stand by the FBI agents tracking down violent criminals, by the guardsmen, local police, and Marines restoring order, and by the ICE agents enforcing our immigration laws. President Trump will not back down.”
Tom Cotton
Senator Cotton blamed the Democratic party for violence that escalated in LA Sunday.
“They demand open borders, or they will riot. And Dem politicians like Newsom will back them,” the U.S. Senator from Arkansas wrote on X. “It won’t work. We must never tolerate this lawlessness.”
Newsom replied on X writing: “The only one supporting lawlessness is you and every one of Trump’s minions who are allowing him to illegally militarize our city and incite violence.”
Cotton replied with a photo of the demonstrator holding the Mexico flag writing “What kind of governor blames police officers and the National Guard for ‘inciting’ this violence? Your policies created this mess. And California deserves a lot better.”
Jim Jordan
Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio indirectly addressed LA protestors waving flags for Mexico or other countries writing: “We fly the American flag in America.
Newsom later quoted the X post with pictures rioters from the Jan. 6 insurrection storming the US Capitol in 2021 holding American flags.
“Like this?” Newsom quipped.
While Jordan did not reply to the governor’s comment, he continued to address the situation in LA writing “President Trump is deporting CRIMINAL illegal aliens. And the Left is burning down Los Angeles.”
“Republicans back law enforcement. Leftist rioters throw rocks at them,” he later wrote.
Tommy Tuberville
Newsom later responded to a Florida’s Voice report of U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville from Alabama echoing Trump’s call to arrest the California governor.
“Lock him up,” Tuberville told Florida’s Voice. “LA looks like a third world country — anarchists are in charge, law enforcement is being attacked, and the rule of law is nonexistent.”
Newsom replied to the retired college football coach citing that Alabama has three times the higher homicide rate of California.
According to most recent CDC data, in 2022 Alabama had a homicide rate of 14.9 with over 700 deaths while California had a rate of 5.9% with over 2,300 deaths.
“Its murder rate is ranked third in the entire country,” Newsom wrote. “Stick to football, bro.”
Contributing: Dinah Voyles Pulver
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: California Gov. Gavin Newsom, GOP leaders in dogfight over LA protest
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