No Kings: Newsom v Trump - Standoff LA

Jun 18, 2025

What on earth is happening in the City of Angels? Trump launched a surprise crackdown on undocumented immigrants, triggering protests and chaos. Solidarity actions erupted across the country. California filed a lawsuit. Trump deployed troops and threatened to arrest Governor Newsom. Speaker Johnson called for Newsom to be "tarred and feathered." A California U.S. Senator was manhandled and handcuffed. On Trump’s birthday, a military parade celebrated his show of force while demonstrations filled the streets across the country. Court battles rage. The situation is tangled and explosive—let’s break it down. (Our scheduled segment on Harvard is pushed to the next episode.)

For days, gossip and noise flooded the airwaves and cyberspace. Mainstream media hyped it up: walls of Mexican flags, flaming streets, thick smoke like a war zone. But in truth? It was just two city blocks. Not all protesters were Latino. And those who turned violent were a tiny few.

Is it legal for Trump to deploy the U.S. military domestically? Is Newsom right to hold his ground? Is local resistance to ICE sensible?

So, who started the conflict? What are Trump and Newsom each saying? Who's telling the truth—and what even is the truth? Why is it so hard to make sense of this? What does the public think? And what comes next?

Subscribe to XindomUSA — no hype, no bandwagoning. Just clear, factual analysis that lays out what really happened.

Video: Newsom v Trump - Standoff LA

Sweep and Escalation

Friday, June 6, just after 9 a.m., ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) launched coordinated raids across multiple sites in Los Angeles. Under the pretext of investigating “forged work permits,” they stormed a Home Depot parking lot where day laborers gather, and a garment factory. Dozens were detained and taken away, including local union leader David Huerta.

News spread quickly and sparked panic. By 3 p.m., families and residents rushed in to stop the vehicles, physically blocking them. Rumors flared, and tensions rapidly escalated into violent confrontations.

Saturday afternoon, Trump ordered 2,000 National Guard troops into Los Angeles. Governor Gavin Newsom condemned the move as an “illegal federalization,” and California filed an emergency lawsuit.

Protests intensified. Cities like New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Omaha, and Seattle saw mass demonstrations in solidarity. Trump responded by doubling the National Guard deployment to 4,000 troops and also sent 700 U.S. Marines.

L.A. Mayor Karen Bass imposed a curfew from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. in a one-square-mile zone of the city center. LAPD arrested over 200 people, including 17 for curfew violations.

Thursday, June 12, Federal Judge Stephen Breyer ruled that Trump’s deployment of the National Guard was illegal and unconstitutional, an overreach, and ordered the troops returned to state control by Friday at noon. That ruling was temporarily blocked by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, pending a hearing the following Tuesday.

Friday, U.S. Marines entered the city and began arresting. The Trump administration both appealed the ruling and publicly argued that presidential command over troops is not subject to judicial review. The confrontation between the judicial and executive branches was escalating.

So what exactly are Trump, Governor Newsom, and Mayor Bass each saying?

Clash of Words

Trump kept up a constant barrage of posts and speeches, attacking and insulting California, Los Angeles, and immigrants. Newsom and Bass hit back head-on. They spoke with one voice: supporting peaceful protests, condemning the small number of agitators inciting violence, and accusing Trump of deliberately creating chaos and crisis.

Trump claimed that California’s government had neglected its duties, leading to the collapse of law and order.

“This is not protest—it’s invasion,” Trump declared. “If demonstrators dare to spit, we will respond with force.”

(Sound familiar? That’s very Putin-esque.)

Newsom slammed Trump’s troop deployment as "unlawful militarization, an assault on democracy."

Trump voiced support for “border czar” Tom Homan to arrest Newsom. When reporters asked, “On what charge?”, Trump replied: “The major crime is running for governor. He is extremely unfit, incompetent.”

He called Newsom “Newscum” and claimed the protesters were “all paid actors, paid to be in the streets.”

Tuesday, June 10, at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, Trump told soldiers:

“Our national sovereignty has been violated. I will liberate Los Angeles, rescue the occupied zone from those animals, our foreign enemy.”

So, was there really an invasion or rebellion? And was Trump’s use of military force within the bounds of legality?

Illegal and Unconstitutional

There was no invasion. The so-called “invaders” Trump referred to were long-time residents and workers from communities in the city, including U.S. citizens, legal immigrants, and undocumented immigrants.

And there was no uprising. If there were, Trump would have immediately cited legal statutes to justify his military deployment.

Without an invasion or rebellion, using the military for domestic law enforcement and creating chaos is potentially illegal and unconstitutional.

Trump did not declare an insurrection, nor did he invoke any legal justification. He simply sent in the Marines.

Neither the National Guard nor the U.S. Marines has law enforcement authority.

This confrontation marks a new chapter in Trump’s long-running strife with the U.S. constitutional system. It’s also a dangerous experiment testing the limits of American democracy—and a total eruption of Trump’s long-held grudge against California.

Some smell civil war. Some fear that if California falls, the “beacon of liberty” will go dark.

So why did this showdown happen in California? And can California withstand and push back Trump’s attack?

Two Californias

This aggressive ICE sweep stemmed from a hard directive issued on May 21 by Trump, through his White House deputy Stephen Miller:

ICE was ordered to triple daily arrest quotas—from 1,000 to 3,000. Agents were told to be aggressive, “creative,” and to sweep day labor markets, factory floors, bystanders, and anyone not carrying legal documentation on the spot.

There are two Californias: One projects the golden future of America and the world. The other is, in Trump’s words, a pile of cultural and material “trash.”

Trump has long spewed anti-California venom:

“The whole state is a dump.”
“San Francisco and Los Angeles are crime-infested cesspools.”
“California is lawless.”
“California robs the federal government.”
“Hollywood and Silicon Valley are enemies of the American people.”

And yet California is America’s most populous, most economically powerful state, ranking as the 4th or 5th largest economy in the world. For every federal tax dollar Californians pay, they get back only 8 cents in federal aid.

America is a nation of immigrants—every family has that story.

Today, nearly 50 million are foreign-born, making up 14.3% of the population. California is the most immigrant-heavy state, with 10.5 million immigrants, making up 27% of its population. Los Angeles alone has 4.4 million immigrants—second only to New York’s 5.4 million—making up nearly 40% of its metro population.

Across the U.S., about 11 million undocumented residents live and work—4.8% of the labor force. Greater Los Angeles has about 1 million undocumented workers—nearly 10% of its labor force. California as a whole has 1.8 million, or 6.2% of its workforce.

Back in the 1990s, when Newt Gingrich wanted mass deportations from New York, Republican Mayor Rudy Giuliani strongly opposed it: “Mass expulsions would cripple the city.”

To protect urban stability and economic function, major cities began enacting laws declaring themselves “Sanctuary Cities.” Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Seattle, Denver, Portland, Philadelphia, Austin, Boston, Miami—they all passed ordinances forbidding local law enforcement from actively cooperating with ICE raids, in order to preserve trust, safety, and social cohesion.

The truth is: Without immigrants, there is no America. Without undocumented labor, the economy collapses.

So why does Trump dare challenge all of this, defying the nation, dividing the states? What’s his end game? To break the system? To take the U.S. down with him?

Going Big

Trump 2.0 has failed across the board—both at home and abroad. But launching a massive anti-immigration sweep under the banner of “law and order” generates clicks, chaos, and energy—a way to rally MAGA morale and maintain media dominance.

Harvard? Taken down. Amazon? Taken down. The biggest media, the biggest law firms—if they don’t kneel, take them all down. California is #1 in the world. Los Angeles is #1 in California. Take them down. Take them all down.

Trump is still testing the waters, running experiments.

As the boldest political gambler of our time, the bigger the risk, the bigger his bet.

Deploying troops costs over $100 million. Military parades cost tens of millions more. Lawsuits will drag on, and taxpayers foot the entire bill.

Meanwhile, public opinion is clear:

60–36 oppose military crackdowns.
56% oppose deporting employed undocumented immigrants.
57% oppose deporting non-criminal undocumented immigrants.
68% oppose deporting those brought here as children.
78% oppose deporting spouses of U.S. citizens.

11 million undocumented people. 4.4 million U.S.-born children. Deport all of them?

Strip away partisan noise—independent voters overwhelmingly reject Trump’s moves.

Even Republican lawmakers have voiced concern: warning that overboard anti-immigration actions will harm innocents and destabilize the economy and society.

So why does Trump keep blatantly lying and doubling down?

Newsom Defies

Trump fears exposure—fears being seen for what he is: abusing power, derelict in duty, and hell-bent on bringing down California.

Newsom condemned the military escalation as deliberate and theatrical—a political stunt aimed at crisis triggering and abusing presidential authority.

Trump threatened to have him arrested？“Go ahead. Get over with it.” Newsom called the threat a blatant push toward dictatorship.

He’s not trying to be a martyr—he stands with millions of Californians and Americans.

Governor Shapiro of Pennsylvania declared his state “ready to face down any military deployment.”

Veterans and active-duty military officers alike spoke out:

“The U.S. military is not a political weapon.”
“We will not turn our guns on our own people.”

Trump threatened that during his birthday military parade in Washington that weekend,

“Anyone causing trouble will face extraordinary force.”

Saturday, more than 2000 protests erupted across the country and around the world. Millions marched.

Their slogan: “No Kings!”

Trump went to see Les Misérables. He didn’t know who to relate to — Jean Valjean or Inspector Javert. As he appeared, the crowd booed and jeered.

Do you hear the people sing? Singing the song of angry men?

Do you hear it, Trump? The people hate you.

If anyone had doubted California was “too blue” or Newsom “too left,” today they saw something else—the spirit of an American leader: pragmatic, steadfast, grounded, patriotic, hard-working, wise, dependable, and brave.

In the face of Trump’s MAGA tyranny, California is roaring. Pennsylvania is roaring. The blue states, the battlegrounds, the new Democrats are rising. A new generation is coming.

This isn’t Weimar. This isn’t Rome. This is the New World. A new century. A new civilization. California’s today is America’s tomorrow.

Trump or Newsom—whom do you trust? MAGA or California—which side are you on? Come join the conversation. Don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe.

I’m Fengming. See you next time.

XindomUSA’s Substack

Discussion about this post