California Governor Gavin Newsom has named US President Donald Trump a “stone cold liar” as the National Guard continue to support immigration raids throughout Los Angeles.
Speaking to MSNBC, Newsom made the statement in response to Trump’s claims he had previously said he would send the National Guard in during a late-night Friday phone call with Newsom.
Newsom said instead Trump had barely wanted to discuss LA, and that it was a “decent conversation”.
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https://twitter.com/GavinNewsom/status/1932547950439272592?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
“He’s a stone cold liar,” Newsom said.
“I respect the presidency. I’ve tried to have an open hand with him, tried to work with him. (You) can’t work with Donald Trump. You can only work for him.
“And I will not – I refuse to work for Donald Trump.”
Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass have been at the forefront of political opposition to the White House’s decision to deploy the National Guard, and mobilise a battalion of Marines, after protests broke out in LA late last week over immigration raids by ICE.
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Trump and his supporters claim it was necessary to keep the peace, portraying the protesters as a foreign element, with Trump today pledging to “liberate” the city.
“We will not allow an American city to be invaded and conquered by a foreign enemy. That’s what they are,” Trump said.
The president also called Los Angeles “a trash heap” with “entire neighbourhoods under control” of criminals and said the federal government would “use every asset at our disposal to quell the violence and restore law and order.”
“We will liberate Los Angeles and make it free, clean, and safe again,” Trump added.
But Newsom has accused Trump of willfully exacerbating the unrest.
In brief public remarks today, he said Trump was “pulling a military dragnet” across Los Angeles.
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Newsom said Trump’s immigration crackdown has gone well beyond arresting criminals and that “dishwashers, gardeners, day labourers and seamstresses” are among those being detained.
He said Trump’s decision to deploy the California National Guard without his support should be a warning to other states.
“California may be first – but it clearly won’t end here,” Newsom said.
Newsom earlier asked a federal court to block the Trump administration from using the National Guard and Marines to assist with immigration raids in Los Angeles, saying it would only heighten tensions and promote civil unrest.
He filed the emergency request after Trump ordered the deployment to LA of roughly 4000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines to the city.
The federal government said Newsom was seeking an unprecedented and dangerous order that would interfere with its ability to carry out enforcement operations. A judge set a hearing for Thursday.
The Marines and another 2000 National Guard troops were sent to LA on Monday, adding to a military presence that local officials and Newsom do not want and that the police chief says makes it harder to handle the protests safely.
Marine Corps General Eric Smith said the Marines had not yet been called to respond to the protests and were there only to protect federal officials and property. The Marines were trained for crowd control but have no arrest authority, Smith told a budget hearing on Capitol Hill.
Marines were not seen on the streets yet, while National guard troops so far have had limited engagement with protesters.
LA’s mayor and the governor have said Trump is putting public safety at risk by adding military personnel even though police say they don’t need the help.
Meanwhile, Bass has issued a curfew for the city’s downtown areas “to stop the vandalism, to stop the looting”.
She said in a news conference on Tuesday (Wednesday AEST) that she had declared a local emergency and that the curfew will run from 8pm on Tuesday until 6am Wednesday.
The curfew will be in a 2.59 square kilometre section of downtown that includes the area where protests have occurred since last Friday.
“We reached a tipping point” after 23 businesses were looted, Bass said.
Photos posted by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) show National Guard troops standing guard around officers as they made arrests.
ICE said in a statement that the troops were providing security at federal facilities and protecting federal officers “who are out on daily enforcement operations.”
The change moves troops closer to engaging in law enforcement actions like deportations as President Donald Trump has promised as part of the administration’s immigration crackdown.
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