Amid immigration raids, peaceful protests, attacks on law enforcement officers and the threat of his own arrest by federal agents, California Gov. Gavin Newsom is immersed in what could be the most consequential political fight of his career.
The battle between the president and the governor of the nation’s largest state instantly turned Newsom into the face of resistance to President Donald Trump’s expansive interpretation of the authorities of his office and mass-deportation campaign. It comes at a time when Newsom, who is a potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidate, has been taking heavy criticism from within his own party over his efforts — in part through his new podcast — to cast himself in the role of conciliator.
“For someone like Newsom, the balance is: Is he able to be tough enough? Will he stand up to Trump? How does he lead at this moment?” said Democratic strategist Karen Finney. “This is unprecedented. There’s not a right answer. So far, he’s doing the right things, being clear, consistent, clear communication.”
Newsom could try to turn the situation on Trump by pointing to government overreach, but at the same time, there is real risk of an eruption violence from rogue actors, said Matt Bennett, co-founder of Third Way, a center-left think tank.
“The images of the militarization of this for no reason should be enough for Newsom to win this debate as long as they can keep control of the worst of the violence," he said.
“Trump always goes too far,” Bennett added. “Last time, he went too far with the Muslim ban. Then he really went too far with child separation — those images really hurt Trump. Here, it’s a real question. It’s a much closer call this time. We just don’t know yet.”
As it is, Newsom must balance forces that are both inside and outside of his control. That includes competing with messaging from Trump (who frequently refers to the governor as "Newscum") and the president's top lieutenants, who are ever-present on cable news, social media and political podcasts. And it involves attempting to quell violent actors while pointing to Trump's actions — which have included deploying the U.S. Marines — as an overreach.
For its part, the White House maintains it is winning the public relations battle, with officials tapping a refrain this week that it was the fight they wanted replete with made-for-TV images. That included images of billowing black smoke and Waymo vehicles that protesters had set on fire.
On Monday, California filed suit against Trump for using emergency powers to deploy National Guard troops to the Los Angeles area over the weekend. Trump, citing a statute that allows the president to activate the guard to repel a foreign invasion or quell a rebellion, accused Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass of failing to protect federal agents and property from demonstrators.
Newsom has slammed the step as escalatory, and said existing law enforcement could have handled any violence or destruction. He argued that the move was “purposefully inflammatory and will only escalate tensions” and that there was “currently no unmet need.”
Newsom has also been mounting his own messaging offensive, including on X, where he posted what appeared to be photos of troops crowded on a floor, apparently attempting to rest.
"You sent your troops here without fuel, food, water or a place to sleep. Here they are — being forced to sleep on the floor, piled on top of one another. If anyone is treating our troops disrespectfully, it is you @realDonaldTrump," Newsom said on X.
On Sunday, Newsom chided Trump border czar Tom Homan, saying in an MSNBC interview: "Tom, arrest me. Let’s go."
Late Monday, Newsom sat for a "Pod Save America" podcast recording in which he cast Trump's actions as unconstitutional and noted some of those assigned to Los Angeles — in his view, unnecessarily — were pried away from fentanyl investigations, and potentially from border operations, for "this theatrical display of toughness by a president of the United States who is unhinged."
By Tuesday morning, Newsom accused Trump and his top White House deportation architect Stephen Miller of sheltering insurrectionists.
"The only people defending insurrectionists are you and @realDonaldTrump. Or, are we pretending like you didn’t pardon 1500 of them?"
On Tuesday afternoon, the two were locked in another public squabble after Trump told reporters he delivered some tough words to Newsom in a phone call Monday. Newsom said the two hadn't spoken since Friday, then posted an interview with NBC News from over the weekend in which Newsom contended he and Trump had a pleasant conversation and that the president barely talked about the issue at hand.
The White House had a different take.
“The President called Gavin Newsom to tell him to get his ass in gear," White House spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement. "The only liar here is Newsom who continues to fail his state as he prioritizes doing interviews with leftist media to gaslight the public instead of helping his state.”
At that, Newsom responded on X: "Donald Trump is a stone cold liar."
Since November's presidential election, Newsom seemed content to lay low and get a better measure of Trump's political appeal as he contemplated a run for the Oval Office. He's also taken some heat from his own party for hosting MAGA figures on his podcast and saying he opposes allowing trans athletes on girls' teams in college and youth sports.
Trump's move on the protests, however, has forced Newsom to pick sides on an issue that the president and White House officials believe they have the political edge.
Now, Democratic leaders say their party is galvanizing behind Newsom — at least for the moment — and it would be difficult for prospective rivals to do anything but fall in line behind him when he is taking a stand on turf that is popular with Democratic voters.
Friends of Newsom say it would be an unexpected political boon for the governor if Trump and Homan follow through on their threat to arrest him if they decide he has broken the law.
That would be "a Nelson Mandela moment" for Newsom, said one longtime ally, referring to the imprisonment of the anti-apartheid leader and recalling that indictments helped Trump win the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
At the same time, that ally and others are careful to depict the governor as focused on the substance of the battle with Trump, rather than the political risks or rewards.
"He's not going to stand by idly while President Trump aims to destroy California," said California state Rep. Buffy Wicks, a Democrat who often aligns with Newsom. "I do not think it's a political calculation. It's genuinely how he feels, and he's leading with his heart on it."
Another observer had a different take: “This whole fiasco could make Gavin president,” Anthony Scaramucci, the short-lived White House communications director in Trump’s first term, wrote on X Monday.
The obvious pitfall for Newsom is that Trump could take credit for restoring order or, if violence escalates, continue to pour blame on him. Democrats in the state say that they believe Trump is intentionally sowing discord and that Newsom's best political move is to do his job well.
"The most important thing he can do is show he can manage a crisis," said Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif. "Good governance is always the best politics — to just show competence contrasting with Trump’s chaos."
Trump has deployed 700 Marines to Los Angeles to support the roughly 300 National Guard members already on the ground. The president had already ordered the deployment of 2,000 National Guard troops. It remains to be seen how the courts will come down on California's lawsuit.
The relevant law allows the president to activate the National Guard domestically in order to quell a foreign invasion or a rebellion against the U.S. government, and Trump, calling protesters "insurrectionists," declared the demonstrations a "rebellion."
The California attorney general argues in the lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in Northern California, that Trump has illegally usurped the authority of the state by fabricating a rebellion and that the presence of guard forces is exacerbating tension between protesters and law enforcement officers.
The powers to deploy the National Guard are divided between presidents and governors, with state executives generally controlling when they are activated within their own state — as opposed to being deployed to foreign wars.
Former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, said in an interview with NBC News that governors routinely work with the White House, regardless of party, to mobilize National Guard forces for a variety of tasks, including the response to natural disasters. At times, governors have asked presidents to deploy guard forces to restore order in their states during riots. But not since the Civil Rights era has a president called up the National guard to enforce the law over the objection of the state's governor.
Democrats say that it's up to state and local law enforcement to keep the peace and that there was no need for Trump to federalize troops — especially without the consent of the governor.
"Gavin's mad as hell and he should be," McAuliffe said. "This is the governor's responsibility, not the president's."
Bennett flagged concerns about introducing the U.S. Marines into the situation, saying they are not trained in controlling crowds of Americans.
“This is a very, very dangerous thing," Bennett said. "God forbid, if they hurt somebody … that’s real trouble for Trump. But [we’re] not rooting for that.”
