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Newsom says Trump 'can't push this state any longer' after judge orders president to return control of National Guard

Salvador Hernandez and Laura J. Nelson, Los Angeles Times on

Published in News & Features

Gov. Gavin Newsom said President Donald Trump “can’t push this state any longer,” after a federal judge ruled the president must return control of the California National Guard.

“Today’s order makes clear that he is not above or beyond constitutional constraints,” Newsom said in a news conference just minutes after the order was issued. “Today was really about a test of democracy and today, we passed that test.”

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer granted a temporary restraining order Thursday evening and, in a 36-page ruling, questioned whether President Donald Trump exceeded his authority.

In an extraordinary move, the Trump administration took over the National Guard over the objections of Newsom as protests over immigration raids spread throughout Southern California. The Trump administration used a statute that allows the president to federalize the troops if there is a “rebellion or danger of a rebellion.”

“There is no invasion, there’s no rebellion,” Newsom said Thursday evening. “It’s absurd.”

Breyer’s decision gave the federal government a stay until Friday to appeal the hearing, and Newsom said he expected to retain control of the California National Guard by noon Friday.

“It’s a federal judge with a federal order, period, full stop,” Newsom said. “It’s the rule of law. These are are the foundational principals of a constitutional democracy.”

 

Newsom also blasted Trump’s initial decision, calling it an overreach of power.

“He is not a monarch,” he said. “He is not a king, and he should stop acting like one.”

Senator Thomas J. Umberg, Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and a former federal prosecutor and retired U.S. Army colonel, called the Trump administration’s move to take over the National Guard a stunt.

“This stunt was simply designed to create an unnecessary and dangerous confrontation – a reckless and disrespectful way to treat our men and women in uniform,” Umberg said. “I’m pleased that the court reached this same conclusion.”

Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn said the judge’s decision returned control of the California National Guard “where it belongs.”

“This ruling is a step toward rolling back the Trump federal overreach that has caused so much chaos, fear, and pain in LA County this week,” she said.


©2025 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

 

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