California Gov. Gavin Newsom suffered a legal rebuke Thursday night in his increasingly combative feud with President Trump, but the pair性视界传媒檚 repeated sparring over immigration arrests and the Los Angeles riots is proving a net political win for Newsom 性视界传媒 at least in the short term.
A federal appeals court late Thursday indefinitely blocked Newsom性视界传媒檚 effort to reclaim control of the National Guard troops activated by the president in response to civil unrest in Los Angeles related to immigration arrests and deportations.
The three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based 9th Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously ruled that Trump appeared to have acted within his authority when he directed 4,000 California National Guard to help contain the riots. The judges 性视界传媒 two appointed by Trump and one by President Biden 性视界传媒 determined that Trump had wide latitude to determine that the protests and related violence were interfering with the execution of federal immigration law.
While the judges acknowledged there are limits to presidents性视界传媒 ability to deploy the National Guard, they found that in this case there was enough evidence of civil unrest and danger to federal officials to justify the actions.
性视界传媒淎ffording the president that deference, we conclude that it is likely that the president lawfully exercised his statutory authority性视界传媒 which authorizes federalization of the National Guard when 性视界传媒渢he president is unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States,性视界传媒 the panel concluded.
Newsom responded to the ruling with pledging that 性视界传媒渢his fight doesn性视界传媒檛 end here.性视界传媒
性视界传媒淭he court rightly rejected Trump性视界传媒檚 claims that he can do whatever he wants with the National Guard and doesn性视界传媒檛 have to explain himself to a court,性视界传媒 Newsom wrote in the post. 性视界传媒淭he president is not a king and is not above the law. We will press forward with our challenge to President Trump性视界传媒檚 authoritarian use of military soldiers against citizens.性视界传媒
The appeals court decision was just the latest skirmish in the years-long legal and political conflict between Trump and Newsom. The hostilities began in Trump性视界传媒檚 first term and reignited just days after Trump regained the White House last November, when California性视界传媒檚 governor declared himself a leader of the resistance. Newsom briefly toned down the rhetoric in January during the devastating and deadly L.A. fires when he was forced to ask Trump for $40 billion to rebuild.
Since then, Newsom has declared himself a likely 2028 presidential candidate and abandoned any attempt to mollify Trump. Since the beginning of the unrest in Los Angeles, Newsom性视界传媒檚 official social media account has become a full-time trolling operation. His press office has called Stephen Miller, Trump性视界传媒檚 domestic policy adviser and chief architect of his immigration policy, 性视界传媒淰oldemort,性视界传媒 while , and .
Newsom has also taken the fight to Trump性视界传媒檚 home turf, inviting prominent MAGA guests on his podcast and penning . In that聽piece, which ran this week, Newsom argued that the country is facing a 性视界传媒減erilous moment性视界传媒 and of 性视界传媒渢rying to destroy our democracy性视界传媒 by turning the country性视界传媒檚 military against American families.
性视界传媒淭he deployment of federal soldiers in L.A. doesn性视界传媒檛 protect our communities 性视界传媒 it traumatizes them,性视界传媒 he wrote. 性视界传媒淭his is not public safety. This is tyranny.性视界传媒
The president has likewise ramped up his rhetoric against Newsom, whom he calls 性视界传媒淕overnor New-scum,性视界传媒 using the governor and the state性视界传媒檚 progressive policies as political pinatas to please his MAGA base.
On Wednesday night Trump suggested he性视界传媒檚 not inclined to sign off on a bill giving California the $40 billion in wildfire damage relief Newsom has been waiting for since January after a week and a half of Newsom性视界传媒檚 attacks on Trump.
When a reporter asked if Trump性视界传媒檚 recent 性视界传媒渄ust-ups性视界传媒 with Newsom would impact additional wildfire relief, Trump first hammered Newsom as 性视界传媒渋ncompetent性视界传媒 when it comes to mitigating fire risk and adequately preparing for it.
Trump then shifted to their personal animosity, suggesting the sour relations could interfere with his willingness release the funds to California. 性视界传媒淗atred is never a good thing in politics,性视界传媒 t 性视界传媒淲hen you don性视界传媒檛 like somebody 性视界传媒 you don性视界传媒檛 respect somebody, it性视界传媒檚 harder for that person to get money when you性视界传媒檙e on top.性视界传媒
Trump性视界传媒檚 statement appearing to make wildfire rebuilding funding personal gave Newsom yet another opening for an attack.聽
性视界传媒淥nly a truly disturbed person would threaten to withhold aid from victims because they don性视界传媒檛 like someone,性视界传媒 Newsom responded.
The increasing vitriol over the ICE arrests and riot response gave Newsom a ready platform to attack Trump. Only a major foreign intervention 性视界传媒 a possible U.S. war with Iran 性视界传媒 managed to push Newsom out of the headlines 性视界传媒 but only for a few days.
As CNN性视界传媒檚 Harry Enten pointed out, Google searches for Newsom性视界传媒檚 and Trump性视界传媒檚 name together have gone up 9,700%, 性视界传媒渁n all-time high性视界传媒 based on data amassed by the search engine since 2005.
性视界传媒淒onald Trump was able to make a name for himself through 性视界传媒淭he Apprentice,性视界传媒 through all of his business ventures,性视界传媒 Enten added. 性视界传媒淗e is now making a name for Gavin Newsom, who seems to relish the fight.性视界传媒
In response to Newsom性视界传媒檚 numerous attacks on Trump during the Los Angeles riots, the Kalshi betting odds on his chances of becoming the Democratic nominee surged while his odds of becoming president also climbed. Those betting odds showed Newsom ahead of many possible Democratic contenders at 12%, followed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and former Treasury Secretary Pete Buttigieg, both at 10%, and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro at 6%.
Garry South, a veteran Democratic operative who ran former Gov. Gray Davis性视界传媒 successful campaigns,聽says the reason for the rise in Newsom性视界传媒檚 stock is no secret.
性视界传媒淚t性视界传媒檚 clear that Newsom has made a hero of himself among Democrats by standing up to Trump and his Gestapo tactics,性视界传媒 South told RealClearPolitics 性视界传媒淚 mean, he did try to play nice, or at least respectfully with Trump at first, but look where it got him. Trump invaded his state like it was a hostile foreign country, and Democrats are out there salivating to try to find somebody that will stand up to Trump and the MAGA forces.性视界传媒
Newsom性视界传媒檚 willingness to take the fight to Trump is a 性视界传媒渘et positive for his chances to be his party性视界传媒檚 nominee,性视界传媒 according to Rob Stutzman, a GOP political consultant who served as deputy chief of staff to former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
性视界传媒淚t性视界传媒檚 TBD in my opinion for his chances of winning the White House,性视界传媒 Stutzman cautioned. 性视界传媒淚t性视界传媒檚 worth noting that Newsom性视界传媒檚 focus of criticism has been the deployment of the Marines and federalizing the National Guard much more than ICE.性视界传媒
Republicans continue to tout polls showing strong support for Trump性视界传媒檚 record so far on aggressive immigration enforcement. Still, Trump blasted Fox News this week over a poll showing Americans split on his handling of immigration issues and the southern border. The poll found a majority, 53%, approve of Trump性视界传媒檚 handling of border security, while 46% disapprove.
Steve Maviglio, a veteran Democratic consultant asserts that Newsom性视界传媒檚 moment in the spotlight lambasting Trump and his administration over immigration this month could be short-lived. Voters in California and elsewhere will be more interested in evaluating his overall record in handling problems such as crime and homelessness across the state, not to mention the slow rebuilding of Los Angeles after the fires, Maviglio said.
性视界传媒淚t might be his 15 minutes [of fame] because that type of encounter will be difficult to sustain,性视界传媒 Maviglio told RCP. 性视界传媒淢eanwhile, he has to deal with multi-billion-dollar deficits, fire recovery and soaring gas prices without a federal helping hand.性视界传媒
性视界传媒淭hat will be a tough tight-rope to walk next year,性视界传媒 he added.
