California governor dares Trump administration to arrest him

California Gov.

Gavin Newsom

dared the

administration of President Donald Trump

to arrest him during an interview over the weekend.

Newsom was responding to comments from Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, who told

NBC News

that he would arrest anyone who interfered with immigration enforcement, including Newsom,

according to The New York Times

.

Newsom responded during an interview with MSNBC on Sunday, the Times said.

“Come after me,” Newsom said. “Arrest me, tough guy. Let’s just get it over with.”

On Monday, Trump had his own response.

“I would do it if I were Tom,” Trump said, according to the Times. “Look, I like Gavin Newsom, he’s a nice guy. But he’s grossly incompetent.”

Newsom shared the video of Trump’s comments on X and called it an “unmistakable step toward authoritarianism,” the Times said.

Newsom and Trump have been trading verbal punches since Trump

ordered National Guard troops

and later Marines to Los Angeles to put down protests that have taken place there over the administration’s immigration enforcement actions.

Newsom said previously that Trump was deliberately provoking the situation and “hoping for chaos.” He said the president would use the upheaval to justify further crackdowns.

A spokesperson for the administration called California’s leadership “feckless” and said officials there weren’t protecting their citizens.

California has sued the federal government over the troop deployment. Newsom has described it as “an illegal act, an immoral act, an unconstitutional act,”

according to The Washington Post

.

The state’s lawsuit argues Trump overstepped his authority when he deployed troops in defiance of Newsom by invoking a law that allows the president to do so under threat from a foreign “invasion” or “rebellion” against the U.S. government, the Post said.

“Let me be clear: There is no invasion. There is no rebellion,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement, the Post said. “The president is trying to manufacture chaos and crisis on the ground for his own political ends.”

More on the Trump administration

• Newsom dares Trump administration to arrest him; Trump hits back

• Trump administration to deploy Marines to combat Los Angeles immigration protests

• Trump ‘hoping for chaos’ with National Guard in LA, top California leader says

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