Trump jumps at the chance for a stand-off in California over immigration

But aides and allies of the president say the events unfolding in Los Angeles provide an almost perfect distillation of why Trump was elected in November.

“It could not be clearer,” said Newt Gingrich, the former Republican House speaker and ally of the president who noted that Trump had been focused on immigration enforcement since 2015. “One side is for enforcing the law and protecting Americans, and the other side is for defending illegals and being on the side of the people who break the law.”

Sporadic protests have occurred across the country in recent days as federal agents have descended on Los Angeles and other cities searching workplaces for undocumented immigrants, part of an expanded effort by the administration to ramp up the number of daily deportations.

On social media, Trump, his aides and allies have sought to frame the demonstrations against immigration officials on their own terms. They have shared images and videos of the most violent episodes – focusing particularly on examples of protesters lashing out at federal agents – even as many remained peaceful. Officials also zeroed in on demonstrators waving flags of other countries, including Mexico and El Salvador, as evidence of a foreign invasion.

“Illegal criminal aliens and violent mobs have been committing arson, throwing rocks at vehicles, and attacking federal law enforcement for days,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote.

Newsom, whom the president refers to as “Newscum”, has long been a foil for Trump, who has repeatedly targeted California and its leader as emblematic of failures of the Democratic Party.

“We expected this, we prepared for this,” Newsom said in a statement to The New York Times. “This is not surprising – for them to succeed, California must fail, and so they’re going to try everything in their tired playbook despite the evidence against them.”

On Sunday, the governor sent a letter to Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth formally requesting that Trump rescind the call-up of the National Guard, saying federal actions were inflaming the situation.

He was echoed by other Democratic officials, who said the mounting demonstrations were the result of Trump’s own actions.

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The president and his aides “are masters of misinformation and disinformation”, Senator Alex Padilla of California, a Democrat, said in an interview. “They create a crisis of their own making and come in with all the theatrics and cruelty of immigration enforcement. They should not be surprised in a community like Los Angeles they will be met by demonstrators who are very passionate about standing up for fundamental rights and due process.”

Republicans defended Trump’s moves, saying he was rightfully exercising his power to protect public safety.

“The president is extremely concerned about the safety of federal officials in LA right now who have been subject to acts of violence and harassment and obstruction,” Republican representative Kevin Kiley of California said in an interview.

He added: “We are in this moment because of a series of reckless decisions by California’s political leaders, the aiding and abetting the open-border policies of president Biden.”

Trump officials said on Sunday that they were ready to escalate their response even more, if necessary. Tom Homan, the president’s border tsar, suggested in an interview with NBC News that the administration would arrest anyone, including public officials, who interfered with immigration enforcement activities, which he said would continue in California and across the country.

Trump appears to be deploying against California a similar playbook that he has used to punish universities, law firms and other institutions and individuals that he views as political adversaries.

Last month, he threatened to strip “large-scale” federal funding from California “maybe permanently” over the inclusion of transgender athletes in women’s sports. And in recent days, his administration said it would pull roughly $US4 billion ($6.2 billion) in federal funding for California’s high-speed train, which would further delay a project that has long been plagued by delays and funding shortages.

“Everything he’s done to attack California or anybody he fears isn’t supportive of him is going to continue to be an obsession of his,” Padilla said. “He may think it plays smart for his base, but it’s actually been bad for the country.”

White House officials said there was a different common denominator that explained Trump’s actions both against institutions such as Harvard and immigration protests in Los Angeles.

“For years, Democrat-run cities and institutions have failed the American people, by both choice and incompetence,” Abigail Jackson, a White House spokesperson, said in a statement.

“In each instance,” she added, “the president took necessary action to protect Americans when Democrats refused.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.