Newsom and Trump Clash Over LA Riots

California’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom leveled accusations against President Donald Trump on Monday, prompting a response from the president as he sought to dispute these claims with evidence.

The dispute revolves around the federal government’s handling of protests in Los Angeles against immigration enforcement actions. Newsom expressed his dissatisfaction with Trump’s approach via a social media update, where he stated, “More than anything, this shows that he is a liar – I said I never called, and this is proof.”

In response to a reporter’s question about when Trump finally contacted him, the president mentioned that he spoke to Newsom, emphasizing that without the National Guard’s assistance, the situation would have deteriorated further: “Los Angeles would be on fire right now.”

Newsom claimed in a post that there hadn’t been any phone conversation at all: “We didn’t have a phone call, we didn’t even have a voicemail. Americans should be wary of not knowing who the president is talking to with deploying Marines on our streets.”

The president sent evidence to a news reporter, John Roberts, asserting that he did have spoken contact with Newsom. Trump recounted that their first call went unanswered, but the second lasted 16 minutes. “Essentially,” Trump relayed, “he said, ‘Get his ass in gear,’ stopping the out-of-control riot.” Roberts also shared a screenshot showing phone logs that included their brief call early Saturday morning.

Newsom took definitive action as well, filing an emergency motion against Trump’s deployment of the California National Guard during the riots, branding the president as unnecessarily aggressive towards the protesters. He remarked, “The movement is intentionally inflammatory and only escalates tension,” while defending the guards’ contributions to Los Angeles’ recovery. “This is a false mission and erodes the trust of the people,” he added.