California Governor Gavin Newsom speaks in an interview with NBC News' Jacob Soboroff for MSNBC on June 8, 2025. Photo: Screenshot from MSNBC News

Amid ongoing tensions between US federal law enforcement forces and anti-ICE protesters, California Governor Gavin Newsom pushed back against threats of arrest by federal officials, remaining defiant as he oversees clashes between law enforcement agents and protesters in response to immigration raids across Los Angeles while also managing an ongoing power struggle with the federal government, NBC reported on Sunday local time.

The clash marked one of the most serious confrontations yet between agents carrying out US president's directives on mass arrests and deportations and local officials who oppose the stricter enforcement measures, according to the USA today. 

As reported by NBC News, Trump's "border czar," Tom Homan, warned Saturday that immigration operations and the presence of federal personnel would continue in the city despite criticism from Democratic leaders who've warned it could further escalate protests. He threatened arrest for anyone who obstructs the immigration enforcement effort, including California Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass — though he acknowledged that neither yet had "crossed the line."

"I'll say about anybody," Homan said. "You cross that line, it's a felony to knowingly harbor and conceal an illegal alien. It's a felony to impede law enforcement doing their job," the NBC News reported.

In an interview for MSNBC with NBC News' Jacob Soboroff, Newsom called Homan's bluff, urging him to "just get it over with" and move ahead with the arrest. "He's a tough guy. Why doesn't he do that? He knows where to find me," Newsom said. "That kind of bloviating is exhausting. So, Tom, arrest me. Let's go."

Newsom also posted on the X platform on Monday, stating: "Let's get this straight: 1) Local law enforcement didn't need help. 2) Trump sent in troops anyway — to manufacture chaos and violence. 3) Trump succeeded. 4) Now the situation is destabilized, and we have to deploy more law enforcement just to clean up Trump's mess."

According to the USA today, US President Trump signed a memo on June 7 deploying 2,000 National Guard members to address the lawlessness that has been allowed to fester, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. The Trump administration has a zero tolerance policy for criminal behavior and violence, especially when that violence is aimed at law enforcement officers trying to do their job, she said.

However, Newsom responded that California would sue the Trump administration on Monday over the deployment of the National Guard, describing it as an "unconstitutional act" in an interview with MSNBC late Sunday. "Commandeering a state's National Guard without consulting the Governor of that state is illegal and immoral," he wrote on X.

According to another post he wrote the same day, Newsom wrote a letter to US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, requesting that the Trump administration rescind its unlawful deployment of troops in Los Angeles County and return them to his command.

Global Times