President Donald Trump told reporters Tuesday that he spoke with Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom a day ago to tell him he “needs to do a better job” handling the riots breaking out in Los Angeles.
Over the weekend, June 7 and June 8, nearly 1,000 protesters descended on L.A. in response to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in the city. The protests turned violent as some anti-Trump protesters burned cars and threw Molotov cocktails, rocks and fireworks. Trump deployed 2,000 California National Guardsmen to help control the unrest, which California alleges in a Monday lawsuit happened without their consent. (RELATED: ‘It’s Disgusting’: Voters Are Furious With Gavin Newsom For Pulling Rug From Under Passed Ballot Measure)
As the riots continue to unfold, Trump told reporters that he recently spoke with Newsom on the phone.
“[I] called him up to tell him, got to do a better job, he’s doing a bad job, causing a lot of death and a lot of potential death,” Trump said Tuesday in the Oval Office. “If we didn’t send out the national guard, and last time we gave him additional help, you would have Los Angeles … would be burning right now. Los Angeles would be not a lot different from what you saw take place in California and Los Angeles just a little while ago.”
“It would have been bad, last night they had total control. If we didn’t have military, the national guard and we also sent in marines … we had some bad people. They spit in your face, they are animals, these are paid insurrectionists. Paid trouble makers. They’re agitators.”
Newsom denied in an X post that the two spoke.
“There was no call. Not even a voicemail,” the California governor wrote in a tweet. “Americans should be alarmed that a President deploying Marines onto our streets doesn’t even know who he’s talking to.”
“President Trump just contacted me from Air Force 1 to say this:
“First call was not picked up. Second call, Gavin picked up, we spoke for 16 minutes. I told him to, essentially, “get his ass in gear,” and stop the Riots, which were out of control. More than anything else, this…— John Roberts (@johnrobertsFox) June 10, 2025
Tensions between the White House and Newsom escalated Monday after the president suggested that his border czar should arrest the California governor. Newsom first dared Homan to arrest him after NBC News aired a clip of the border czar warning that any government official that obstructs immigration enforcement will face consequences.
“Gavin Newsom is daring Tom Homan to come and arrest him. Should he do it?” Fox News’ Peter Doocy asked Trump on Monday.
“I would do it, if I were Tom,” Trump responded with a smirk.
“Gavin likes the publicity, but I think it would be a great thing. He’s done a terrible job. Look, I like Gavin Newsom. He’s a nice guy, but he’s grossly incompetent,” the president continued. “Everybody knows all you have to do is look at the little railroad he’s building. It’s about 100 times over budget.”
“I would do it if I were Tom. I think it’s great,” Trump says after Gavin Newsom dared Border Czar Tom Homan to come arrest him. pic.twitter.com/OWjMLs1V4v
— Reagan Reese (@reaganreese_) June 9, 2025
After the NBC News clip aired, Homan disputed the report from the outlet, saying that he was threatening to arrest Newsom. The border czar said he was interviewed in a “dishonest” manner. NBC News later said that it stands by its reporting.
“I’m not biting on that. The NBC reporter interviewed me very dishonest[ly]. We did a 20-minute interview and it cuts out a little clip that takes my words out of context,” Homan said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
“Here’s what we said, and I talked about these people that are in these protests and rioting, when they cross the line. They have a right to protest, they have First Amendment rights. But they can’t cross that line … They can’t cross that line of putting their hands on officers, they can’t cross that line of knowingly concealing an illegal alien. It’s all in [federal] statute and they will be prosecuted,” Homan continued.
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