Summary
- Trump
called California Gov. Newsom “incompetent” publicly. - Threatened
to send federal troops back to Los Angeles. - Newsom
condemned Trump’s use of troops as illegal, authoritarian. - A
federal judge ruled Trump’s deployment of troops violated law.
Throughout the summer, the Golden State governor and Trump
have been attacking each other on social media and in public remarks. Trump
threatened to send troops into California once more during remarks on Tuesday,
even though a federal judge had declared the deployment unlawful the same day.
Trump faced a new challenge on Wednesday, accusing reporters
of being “incompetent” and asserting without proof that Newsom was in
charge of California’s water management practices that permitted the Pacific
Palisades fires to rage through Los Angeles in January.
Following a surge of protests against ICE raids in June,
Trump sent about 4,000 troops of the National Guard and several hundred U.S.
Marines to Los Angeles, sparking the highly public dispute.
Since then, Trump has blasted Newsom for how he handled
the protests. This week, he told reporters that the governor “didn’t want
us there,” but that he will want assistance once more soon since
“it’s starting to form again.”
Newsom was quick to shoot back, posting on X,
“So you can
have them sleep on the floor again? We’re good.”
Newsom posted a picture of
several dozen soldiers sleeping hunched up on the floor during their deployment
along with the reply.
Despite Newsom’s strong opposition, Trump had federalized
the National Guard, which is typically state-authorized.
Meanwhile, Trump deemed Newsom “incompetent” on Wednesday
morning, repeating a false claim that the governor didn’t allow emergency water
supplies to be opened during the Pacific Palisades fires.
“I demanded that to be open. If that were open, you
wouldn’t have had the fire because all the sprinklers would’ve worked in the
houses,”
Trump said, rehashing a narrative that Newsom has repeatedly
called a “crazy conspiracy.”
As part of his ongoing trolling of Trump, Newsom shared a
montage set to Reba McEntire’s “I’m a Survivor” that included some of
Trump’s most embarrassing gaffes, such as tripping up the stairs to Air Force
One and flaunting his enigmatic hand bruise.
For the past month, the governor of California has been
imitating Trump’s social media image, using all caps to brag about his
brilliance and creating childish insults to use against antagonistic
conservative media figures, just as Trump has done to his left-wing rivals for
years.
Newsom mockingly wrote, “Good night, grandpa!”
in response to Trump’s recent post that read, “GOOD NIGHT!!!”
Newsom reportedly received red “Trump 2028”
baseball caps from Trump’s team, to which he replied with his own “Newsom
2026” mugs and “Newsom was right about everything!” hats.
What are the key aspects of Newsom’s response?
Newsom laughed off Trump’s threats using similarly
provocative talk, including jestful and incisive social media postings. He
characteristically called himself “America’s Favorite Governor” with brash
social media postings of AI-generated images of himself as a robust and patriotic
warrior — signaling confidence and resilience against Trump’s attacks.
Newsom viewed the argument as one of politics, and
contrasted himself, as the chief executive of California, against Trump,
representing the federal government, and framing Newsom as protecting democracy
against Trump’s alleged burgeoning authoritarianism.
Legally, Newsom responded to Trump’s deployment of federal
troops in California by suing the Trump Administration for exceeding
constitutional powers that violated California’s sovereignty.
