TRUMP SEEKS ARREST OF CALIFORNIA GOV AMID LOS ANGELES PROTEST UPROAR

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Agency Report

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday said it would be “great” if California Governor Gavin Newsom were arrested, issuing a striking remark amid escalating tensions between the two leaders over protests in Los Angeles.

The 78-year-old Republican ordered the deployment of the National Guard to the city on Saturday following unrest sparked by immigration raids—a move made without seeking the approval of the Democratic governor, marking the first such presidential action in six decades.

As temperatures soared, California Governor Gavin Newsom, 57, challenged Trump’s border chief, Tom Homan, over the weekend, daring him to carry out his threat after Homan suggested that both Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass could face federal charges for allegedly obstructing immigration enforcement efforts.

“I would do it if I were Tom. I think it’s great,” Trump told reporters when asked if Homan should arrest Newsom, as the Republican president arrived on his Marine One helicopter at the White House.

“Gavin likes the publicity, but I think it would be a great thing.”

Trump said Newsom, who has been widely tipped as a possible 2028 presidential candidate, had “done a terrible job” in curbing the Los Angeles clashes.

“Look, I like Gavin Newsom; he’s a nice guy—but he’s grossly incompetent, everybody knows,” Trump said.

Trump later said that “I don’t want a civil war,” but that “civil war would happen if you left it to people like him.”

Newsom has bitterly accused Trump of manufacturing the crisis for political gain, saying that local law authorities could have handled the protests without the National Guard.

On Sunday, he blasted border chief Homan, telling MSNBC, “Come after me, arrest me, let’s just get it over with, tough guy.”

The Democrat then branded Trump as “dictatorial” later Monday after the Trump administration deployed 700 active-duty Marines to Los Angeles.