It’s been a difficult month for California Governor Gavin Newsom. A series of brutal and invasive ICE raids saw Los Angeles citizens erupt in protest. That gave Donald Trump the excuse to flex his muscles, first dispatching thousands of National Guard soldiers, then hundreds of Marines. Their mission is supposedly to “keep the peace”, though to citizens, the soldiers on the street have felt more like an invading army.
Newsom is demanding control of the troops on his streets and has taken his battle to the courts. So far, he’s seen mixed results. For a brief moment, it seemed a judge had granted his wish, though, mere hours later, the ruling was successfully appealed and command snatched from his hands.
Now, the three judges hearing the case in the San Francisco-based 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals have delivered another critical blow to Newsom’s authority by affirming the appeal that Trump remains in control of the troops.
Though some questions remain open, they’ve ruled that Trump is “probably” acting within his authority and “probably” complied with legal requirements to coordinate with the governor’s office before deployment. But even that point may be academic, as whatever the case, they ruled that Newsom simply doesn’t have the authority to veto the Commander-in-Chief.
The fight doesn’t end here
But though Newsom might have a bloodied lip and a black eye from trying to take on Trump in court, he’s not tappin out just yet. He said, “The fight doesn’t end here” and indicated he still hopes to be given authority over the troops on the streets of his state:
This fight doesn’t end here. pic.twitter.com/6OZJdLcJK0
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) June 20, 2025
Meanwhile, Trump is doing a victory lap, rubbing salt into Newsom’s (or “Newscum” as he dubs him) wounds:
The Battle for control of Los Angeles may be raging on in the courts, but Trump getting the legal authority to override state concerns and airdrop troops into Democratic cities to squash protests is an ominous sign. Either way, it doesn’t seem possible for Newsom to be giving commands to National Guard troops anytime soon, so for now, he’s just going to have to put up with Trump’s troops running the show in Los Angeles.
Exactly what his next move is remains unclear, but with Trump crowing from the rooftops about his victory, he’d better have a good rabbit to pull out of that hat or it might be game over. Heck, at this point, we wouldn’t be surprised if Trump made good on his promise to arrest and detain him.
