The day after the Pentagon directed the deployment of half of the National Guard troops in Los Angeles, Governor Gavin Newsom voiced criticism towards President Trump. He accused Trump of squandering hundreds of millions of dollars and coming off as excessively harsh in his treatment of immigrants.
Newsom also alleged that the president is exerting pressure on Texas to secure Republican candidates in Congress, suggesting that he might consider similar strategies in California to bolster the Democrats.
“Things are changing—it’s all evolving right now,” Newsom remarked to reporters on Wednesday. “I refuse to be the one who thinks ‘I could have’ or ‘I should have.’ I’m no longer passive about this. I’m staring into my child’s eyes and can’t just shrug this off.”
These remarks came during a press conference where Newsom met with Senior Pastor Tanya Lopez. They discussed an incident from June when she witnessed federal agents detaining a constitutional lawyer in her church’s parking lot.
The governor condemned the administration’s actions against immigrants, arguing that the intent is to instill fear within families and communities. He pointed out that this crackdown negatively impacts family-owned businesses that rely on immigrant workers and customers.
Newsom labeled Trump’s decision to deploy around 4,000 National Guard troops as an example of “cruelty control” and noted that the Pentagon eventually recognized the absurdity of the situation by reducing troop numbers.
According to Newsom, the government wasted a significant amount—hundreds of millions of dollars—on the deployment. He added that the National Guard’s “utilization rate” was only about 5%, indicating that the majority were not actively involved in any duties.
“They’re now trying to identify both problems and solutions,” Newsom said about the National Guard.
The decision to send some troops back home followed legal disputes regarding the authority of the president to deploy military personnel. A federal appeals court confirmed that the president does possess extensive power in this regard.
Local leaders argued that the National Guard was unnecessary for dealing with protests linked to a migrant incident that resulted in approximately 3,000 arrests.
Additionally, Newsom has frequently mentioned the possibility of California revising its electoral map to secure more Congressional seats, especially in response to Trump’s push for Texas and other states to adjust in favor of Republicans ahead of the 2026 midterms. Currently, Republicans dominate both the Senate and House, significantly impacting the President’s policies, including cuts to healthcare and food aid for those in need.
“They can’t compete in conventional ways, so they’re trying to change the rules,” Newsom observed. “We can take action beyond mere comments; we can’t afford to sit back and just discuss what should be done.”
In 2010, Californian voters granted an independent commission the power to determine the district boundaries for state legislatures in the U.S. House, thus limiting legislative control over this process.
Newsom mentioned that the California Legislature might introduce a bill in a special session to amend state electoral laws, allowing for special elections within a narrow timeframe prior to the 2026 primaries.
He also indicated that the California legislature is investigating potential legal avenues to redraw legislative maps with a two-thirds majority, potentially avoiding a ballot initiative.
“This is another option under consideration, along with others, as I feel increasingly pressured by the existential threats posed by Trump and some Republicans—not just Congress members, but others as well,” Newsom remarked.
