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'I would': Trump says he'd arrest California Gov Gavin Newsom
June 9, 2025 1:11PM ET
President Donald Trump told reporters on Monday afternoon that, if he were Tom Homan, he’d arrest California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D).
Homan is the White House Executive Associate Director of Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), which Trump refers to as the border czar.
Trump was returning from a weekend at Camp David when a reporter asked if Newsom should be arrested following a weekend of protests over immigration raids in Los Angeles.
"I would do it if I were Tom," Trump said over the loud noise of his helicopter.
"He's done a terrible job. I like Gavin Newsom. He's a nice guy, but he's grossly incompetent," Trump continued. "Everybody knows — all you have to do is look at the little railroad he's building. It's about 100 times over budget. We're putting up a flagpole over there under budget."
Trump was referring to a high-speed rail similar to those abroad, which would run from San Francisco to Los Angeles and Anaheim via the Central Valley. Trump's budget would slash $4 billion in previously promised funding for the project, the Fresno Bee reported Sunday.
Trump sent the National Guard into Los Angeles after the protests erupted over the weekend. The Los Angeles Police Department released a statement saying that the protests were peaceful when they began, but after Trump deployed the Guard, the protests turned more hostile.
Homan threatened to arrest anyone who got in his way, including Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. When pressed on it, he acknowledged that neither official had yet "crossed the line."
“You cross that line, it’s a felony to knowingly harbor and conceal an illegal alien. It’s a felony to impede law enforcement doing their job," he said.
An unfazed Newsom called the administration's bluff.
“He’s a tough guy. Why doesn’t he do that? He knows where to find me,” Newsom told NBC News. “That kind of bloviating is exhausting. So, Tom, arrest me. Let's go."
See the statement below or at the link here.
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