Newsom Calls Trump “Stone-Cold Liar” as California Threatens to Sue

California Governor Gavin Newsom said the state will sue the Trump administration for deploying the National Guard to quell anti-ICE protests.

Law enforcement officers and protesters have clashed for three days in Los Angeles, where locals have taken a visible stand against the president’s anti-immigration agenda. In response, Donald Trump ordered hundreds of National Guard troops to intervene—a move that Newsom decried as a seed intended to “manufacture chaos and violence.”

“Donald Trump has created the conditions you see on your TV tonight,” Newsom told MSNBC, referring to Trump’s order as unconstitutional. “He’s exacerbated the conditions. He’s lit the proverbial match. He’s putting fuel on this fire.”

Trump’s executive order directed the Department of Defense to coordinate with affected governors to distribute National Guard troops throughout their states. But, as Newsom tells it, they never did, opening room for a lawsuit.

“There’s a protocol, there’s a process. He didn’t care about that,” Newsom said.

Newsom also said he spoke with the president for nearly 20 minutes over the phone late Friday—after the protests had started—but that the protests “barely” came up despite his attempts to steer the conversation towards L.A.

“He wanted to talk about all these other issues,” Newsom continued. “He never once brought up the National Guard. He’s a stone-cold liar; he said he did.”

“I’ve always wanted to approach engagement with the president of the United States in a respectful and responsible way. But there’s no working with the president, there’s only working for him. And I will never work for Donald Trump,” Newsom said.

In a separate interview with podcaster Brian Tyler Cohen, Newsom warned that defying the language of the executive order will allow Trump to replicate the situation in L.A. in cities across the country.

“This is a preview for things to come. This isn’t about L.A. per se, it’s about us today, and you—everyone watching—tomorrow. Donald Trump is unhinged right now,” Newsom said.

Donald Trump went on a late-night social media tantrum Sunday, attacking the anti-ICE protesters in Los Angeles where he unleashed the National Guard.

Large protests in and around Los Angeles erupted Friday after immigration authorities arrested at least 44 people as part of Trump’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants. By Saturday, Trump overrode California Governor Gavin Newsom’s authority and called in the National Guard, the first time that force has been federalized since 1992.

Trump was quick to invent his own narrative to support this unprecedented step, in a post on Truth Social.

“A once great American City, Los Angeles, has been invaded and occupied by Illegal Aliens and Criminals,” Trump wrote Sunday. “Now violent, insurrectionist mobs are swarming and attacking our Federal Agents to try and stop our deportation operations—But these lawless riots only strengthen our resolve.”

Trump said he had directed his agency heads to “take all such necessary action to liberate Los Angeles from the Migrant Invasion and put an end to these Migrant riots.”

But as the protests stretched into the night, Trump continued his screed. He went on to attack Newsom, who has refused to back down from the administration’s escalating threats, and Mayor Karen Bass, who said she had been “disappointed” in the president’s decision to deploy the National Guard as it was “just political.”

Trump was incensed. “Governor Gavin Newscum and ‘Mayor’ Bass should apologize to the people of Los Angeles for the absolutely horrible job that they have done, and this now includes the ongoing L.A. riots. These are not protesters, they are troublemakers and insurrectionists. Remember, NO MASKS!” he wrote.

Trump couldn’t seem to stop posting about the protests, smearing the protesters who have been subjected to flash grenades and tear gas. “Paid Insurrectionists!” Trump wrote in another post.

Trump continued to try and cheerlead his outrageous response to the protests. “Looking really bad in L.A. BRING IN THE TROOPS!!!” he added past midnight.

“ARREST THE PEOPLE IN FACE MASKS, NOW! he wrote in yet another post.

Donald Trump is directing agencies to see where they can slash federal funding to the state of California, in a move that could start as soon as Friday, according to CNN. 

While the Trump administration is eyeing wider cuts, two sources told the outlet that the government was specifically targeting grants to schools in the University of California and California State University systems over alleged antisemitism on campus, the same rationale used to withhold federal funds from Harvard University and Columbia University. 

A White House official told CNN Friday afternoon that no formal decision had been made with regard to funding. 

California Governor Gavin Newsom responded to CNN’s report in a post on X, with a threat of his own.  

“Californians pay the bills for the federal government. We pay over $80 BILLION more in taxes than we get back. Maybe it’s time to cut that off, @realDonaldTrump,” wrote Newsom, whose state generates the highest tax revenue of any state in the country. 

In March, the Trump administration announced it was canceling $400 million in grants to Columbia, and in April said the government would withhold $2.2 billion in grants to Harvard. 

Trump’s crackdown at these universities has been part of a larger campaign to shutter pro-Palestinian speech on campuses. Last year at UCLA, a mob of celebrity-backed pro-Israel counter protesters attacked a pro-Palestinian encampment, calling for a “Second Nabka,” while police officers cowered in a nearby building. Meanwhile, Jewish students and a Jewish professor have filed a lawsuit against the university, claiming that the school allowed the pro-Palestinian protesters to prevent them from reaching certain parts of campus. 

This is the latest escalation in Trump’s ongoing efforts to kneecap the blue state. The Trump administration previously blocked California from accessing millions in FEMA grant money, which is particularly troubling as wildfire season begins in June. Late last month, Trump threatened to withhold federal funding to California over a transgender athlete’s planned participation in a track and field event, which the president claimed violated his February executive order banning transgender women from competing in women’s sports. 

Russian officials are gleefully offering Elon Musk asylum, a sarcastic gesture meant to sow further discord between the billionaire and President Trump as their alliance implodes.

“Elon @elonmusk, don’t be upset! You are respected in Russia. If you encounter insurmountable problems in the US, come to us and become one of us - a ‘Bars-Sarmat’ fighter. Here you will find reliable comrades and complete freedom of technical creativity,” wrote Dmitry Rogozin, who formerly rivaled Musk as the head of Russia’s space agency Roscosmos. “We will, of course, resolve issues of citizenship and military ID. Please fill out the forms at this link. With respect to you.” Rogozin is now a senator in occupied Ukraine.

“We are ready to facilitate the conclusion of a peace deal between D and E for a reasonable fee and to accept Starlink shares as payment,” former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev wrote on X. “Don’t fight, guys😱!”

Musk responded with a laughing emoji.

Others noted that Musks’s conflict with Trump mirrors the conflicts that President Putin has had with Russian businessmen, particularly Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Wagner Group founder whose plane mysteriously exploded in mid-air in 2023 after he tried to usurp Putin. Musk has also been deeply anti-Ukraine sinceRussia’s invasion, another point that will further please the Kremlin.