The Siege of Los Angeles – Trump, Newsom, and the Uprising in the West

It was a Sunday that felt like a turning point in American history. Thousands of people poured into the streets of Los Angeles, blocked freeways, and set self-driving vehicles on fire. These were images that recalled the summer of 2020 - George Floyd, tear gas, rebellion. California's Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom called Donald Trump's deployment of the National Guard "illegal, immoral, unconstitutional." On Monday, he plans to file a lawsuit against the federal government to stop the deployment. The lines are clearly drawn: on one side, a state defending its autonomy - on the other, a president justifying a military response under the law of rebellion.

A President Against His Country

"I like Gavin, he's a nice guy, but grossly incompetent," Trump said Monday on the lawn of the White House. He posed next to the Washington Monument - an image of power straight from the autocrat's playbook. Newsom's high-speed rail project was "100 times over budget," he said, while calling the protesters "professional agitators, insurrectionists, bad people. They belong in jail." Trump is sticking to his narrative: the deployment of the National Guard was a "great decision." Without the troops, he wrote on his social media platform, Los Angeles would have been "completely obliterated." In reality, the violence was limited to specific blocks - not a full-scale uprising, but an escalating reaction to Trump’s immigration policies.

A Union Leader in the Crosshairs

One man who stood against it is now in pretrial detention: David Jose Huerta, 58, president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) California. On Friday morning, federal agents executed a search warrant at a Los Angeles business suspected of employing undocumented workers. When Huerta appeared on the scene, a confrontation with the officers ensued, according to court records. He allegedly pushed an officer, was thrown to the ground, and arrested.

SEIU is calling the move intimidation and politically motivated repression. On Monday, protests are expected in 17 cities nationwide - including New York, Chicago, Boston, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Portland, Washington D.C., and San Francisco. "We demand the immediate release of Huerta and an end to these abusive workplace raids," said SEIU President April Verrett.

Travel Ban and Escalation

At the same time, a new travel ban is going into effect on Monday. It targets citizens from twelve predominantly African and Arab countries. The measure is part of the Trump administration's intensified crackdown on migration from regions it deems "not capable of integration." For many observers, it is a revamped version of the "Muslim Ban" - this time broader, more aggressive, more radical. Civil rights organizations and UN experts speak of systematic discrimination against entire continents.

A Legal Earthquake Is Brewing

Gavin Newsom sees Trump’s actions as an unconstitutional intervention. The president is invoking a law that allows him to deploy troops in the event of "a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the United States." But there is no state of emergency in California - no puppet government, no enemy forces. There are protests - and a political resistance grounded in the right to self-governance. Tom Homan, Trump’s border czar, went a step further on Monday. In an interview with Fox News, he suggested that Gavin Newsom could "absolutely" be arrested if found to have obstructed federal officers. He later backpedaled - but the threat lingered. The idea that a president would entertain arresting an elected governor marks a new level of escalation in the battle between federal and state authority.

California Is Not Alone

The Siege of Los Angeles – Trump, Newsom, and the Uprising in the West It was a Sunday that felt like a turning point in American history. Thousands of people poured into the streets of Los Angeles, blocked freeways, and set self-driving vehicles on fire. These were images that recalled the summer of 2020 - George Floyd, tear gas, rebellion. California's Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom called Donald Trump's deployment of the National Guard "illegal, immoral, unconstitutional." On Monday, he plans to file a lawsuit against the federal government to stop the deployment. The lines are clearly drawn: on one side, a state defending its autonomy - on the other, a president justifying a military response under the law of rebellion. A President Against His Country "I like Gavin, he's a nice guy, but grossly incompetent," Trump said Monday on the lawn of the White House. He posed next to the Washington Monument - an image of power straight from the autocrat's playbook. Newsom's high-speed rail project was "100 times over budget," he said, while calling the protesters "professional agitators, insurrectionists, bad people. They belong in jail." Trump is sticking to his narrative: the deployment of the National Guard was a "great decision." Without the troops, he wrote on his social media platform, Los Angeles would have been "completely obliterated." In reality, the violence was limited to specific blocks - not a full-scale uprising, but an escalating reaction to Trump’s immigration policies. In many cities, tensions are boiling over - not just because of immigration policy, but because of the expanding powers of the presidency, the repression of labor unions, the militarization of domestic policy. Trump’s second year in office is beginning like a dark déjà vu - with tear gas and tanks, with censorship and fear, with a judiciary increasingly aligned against the people rather than protecting them. And yet, the resistance is growing. In Los Angeles, in New York, in Portland, in Atlanta. What began as a local uprising may become a national spark. For a different America. For a country that will not surrender to authoritarianism without a fight.