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      US national guard troops deployed in LA after protests over immigration raids

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      US national guard troops were deployed in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday amid an immigration crackdown that saw authorities use teargas on protesters in a move that sent shockwaves though American politics.Troops were stationed outside Metropolitan detention center in downtown Los Angeles, one of several sites that have seen confrontations involving hundreds of demonstrators and federal law enforcement in the last two days, and other areas of the federal complex. Footage captured in the area showed the situation quickly escalated as authorities fired pepper balls and teargas at a growing crowd gathered there, reportedly striking protesters and journalists.California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, has sharply criticized the deployment and urged protesters to “stay peaceful”. “Don’t give Donald Trump what he wants,” he said.Donald Trump ordered the deployment of the national guard in Los Angeles late on Saturday night following days of clashes between demonstrators and US immigration authorities. The decision marked a stunning escalation in a broad crackdown on immigrants in the United States following raids across the country which have triggered protests.Trump’s federalization of the guard troops is the first time an American president has used such power since the 1992 LA riots. At that time widespread violence broke out in reaction to the acquittal of four white police officers for brutally beating Black motorist Rodney King.Trump’s move has been followed by the threat of even more escalation. Earlier Pete Hegseth,Trump’s controversial and hardline defense secretary, had raised the possibility of deploying US marines onto the streets of the Democrat-run state following the protests that erupted in the wake of raids from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) authorities in the state.“Under President Trump, violence & destruction against federal agents & federal facilities will NOT be tolerated. It’s COMMON SENSE,” Hegseth wrote on social media.“If violence continues, active duty Marines at Camp Pendleton will also be mobilized – they are on high alert,” Hegseth said. Camp Pendleton is a large military base south of Los Angeles and north of San Diego.Newsom called the potential deployment of US marines “deranged” .“The Secretary of Defense is now threatening to deploy active-duty Marines on American soil against its own citizens. This is deranged behavior,” Newsom wrote on X.Kristi Noem, the Department of Homeland Security secretary, criticized Newsom’s stance on ABC’s Face the Nation. “If he was doing his job people wouldn’t have gotten hurt the last couple of days … Governor Newsom has proven that he makes bad decisions. The president knows that he makes bad decisions and that’s why the president chose the safety of this community over waiting for Governor Newsom to get some sanity.”The independent Vermont senator Bernie Sanders called the situation a threat to US democracy. “We have a president who is moving this country rapidly into authoritarianism,” he told CNN. “He does not believe in the rule of law.”Tensions in Los Angles had begun on Friday, when protesters clashed with law enforcement officials conducting immigration raids on multiple locations in the sprawling city’s downtown.On Saturday, US immigration authorities extended enforcement action into Paramount, a majority Latino area south-east of Los Angeles, and were met with more protests outside an industrial park.A stand-off developed between border patrol personnel in riot gear and gas masks and protesters. As demonstrations continued law enforcement deployed teargas and protesters also threw objects at them. At least one car was set alight.Trump then promised to send in the national guard – a move that many critics have feared might happen during his second administration amid fears that the US is sliding into authoritarianism.“The federal government is taking over the California National Guard and deploying 2,000 soldiers in Los Angeles – not because there is a shortage of law enforcement, but because they want a spectacle,” Newsom said later. “Don’t give them one.”On his own social media platform, Truth Social, Trump praised the national guard, even before it was reported that troops had arrived. “Great job by the National Guard in Los Angeles after two days of violence, clashes and unrest,” he said in a post filled with insults at Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass and Newsom.“These Radical Left protests, by instigators and often paid troublemakers, will NOT BE TOLERATED. Also, from now on, MASKS WILL NOT BE ALLOWED to be worn at protests. What do these people have to hide, and why???” he added.Ice officers and police have been wearing face masks during raids and arrests but Noem defended this on Sunday, saying: “It’s for the safety of those individuals.” She did not specify how law enforcement will prevent protesters from wearing masks.Nanette Barragán, who has Paramount in her constituency, said she has been told to prepare for a large presence ofIceagents in California.“We’ve been told to get ready for 30 days of enforcement. Thirty days of ICE enforcement,” Barragán told CNN, adding that their presence is “going to escalate the situation.”“We haven’t asked for the help. We don’t need the help. This is [President Trump] escalating it, causing tensions to rise. It’s only going to make things worse in a situation where people are already angry over immigration enforcement,” Barragán said.Tom Homan, Trump’s “border czar”, or the White House executive associate director of enforcement and removal operations, warned that immigration enforcement will continue “every day” in Los Angeles.“I’m telling you what, we’re going to keep enforcing law every day in LA,” Homan told NBC News. “Every day in LA, we’re going to enforce immigration law. I don’t care if they like it or not.”Homan was asked if his prior warnings to elected state and local officials to not obstruct federal immigration enforcement included Newsom and Bass. Homan said he did not believe Bass had “crossed the line yet”.But, he added, “I’ll say it about anybody. 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.”Trump has long promised mass immigration raids across the US after campaigning in part last year on anti-immigrant sentiment. Since he returned to office Ice raids have increased, in particular targeting some areas traditionally left alone such as court houses where immigrants might be attending hearings. More

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      Newsom is warned of ‘criminal tax evasion’ if he withholds federal taxes

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      The US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, has warned California governor Gavin Newsom that he would be guilty of “criminal tax evasion” if he withholds his state’s tax payments to the federal government amid threats of a funding cut by Donald Trump.Newsom had threatened to cut tax payments to the federal government two days ago after reports that Trump was preparing huge federal funding cuts targeting Democrat-dominated California, including its state university system.“Gavin Newsom is threatening to commit criminal tax evasion,” Bessent said in a post on X. “His plan: defraud the American taxpayer and leave California residents on the hook for unpaid federal taxes.”Bessent continued: “I am certain most California businesses know that failing to pay taxes owed to the Treasury constitutes tax evasion and have no intention of following the dangerous path Governor Gavin Newsom is threatening.”He described Newsom’s comments as “extremely reckless” and advised the governor to come up with a tax-cutting plan for California that mirrored Trump’s federal tax cutting plan, “instead of committing criminal tax evasion”.The treasury secretary’s comments came after Newsom posted on Friday that “Californians pay the bills for the federal government. We pay over $80 BILLION more in taxes than we get back. Maybe it’s time to cut that off, Donald Trump.”The California governor linked to a CNN report that the Trump administration is preparing to cancel some federal funding for California and federal agencies had been directed to identify grants that could be withheld, including the University of California and California state university systems.In a statement on Friday, the White House spokesperson Kush Desai criticized California’s energy, immigration and other positions as “lunatic anti-energy, soft-on-crime, pro-child mutilation, and pro-sanctuary policies”.“No taxpayer should be forced to fund the demise of our country,” Desai said, but he added that “No final decisions, however, on any potential future action by the Administration have been made, and any discussion suggesting otherwise should be considered pure speculation.”Newsom and Trump are accustomed to a war of words, including threats to withhold funding. The administration recently cut $126m in flood prevention funding projects, and Trump has threatened “large-scale fines” on the state after transgender athlete AB Hernandez competed in the long jump, high jump and triple jump events at the California Interscholastic Federation track and field championships.But the reported threat to cut off federal funding to California’s university system appears to have pushed California officials into threats of retaliation. Soon before Newsom made his threat, California assembly speaker Robert Rivas described the rumored grant cancellations as “unconstitutional and vindictive.”“We’re the nation’s economic engine and the largest donor state, and deserve our fair share,” Rivas wrote. “I’ll use every legal and constitutional tool available to defend CA – we must look at every option, including withholding federal taxes.” More

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      National guard deploys in downtown LA amid eerie calm after two days of unrest

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      On a foggy, unseasonably cold morning in Los Angeles, the national guardsmen suddenly pressed into service by Donald Trump to quell what he called a “rebellion” against his government were nothing if not ready for their close-up.Outside a federal complex in downtown Los Angeles that includes a courthouse, a veterans’ medical centre, and a jail, two dozen guardsmen in camouflage uniforms were arrayed in front of their military vehicles with semi-automatic weapons slung over their shoulders for the benefit of television and news photographers clustered on the sidewalk.They stood with the visors of their helmets up so the reporters could see their faces. Most wore shades, despite the gloomy weather, giving them the eerie appearance of extras from a Hollywood action movie more than shock troops for the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.After two days of unrest in response to heavy-handed raids by Trump’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) in downtown Los Angeles and in the heavily Latino suburb of Paramount, the day started off in an atmosphere of uneasy, almost surreal calm.The skyscrapers and government offices of downtown Los Angeles were ringed by vehicles from multiple law enforcement agencies – Los Angeles police and parking enforcement, county sheriffs, highway patrol and private security guards.Most, though, were deployed for an entirely different event – a festival and two-mile walk organized by the non-profit group the March of Dimes to raise money for maternal and infant health.The streets around Grand Park, across from City Hall, were closed to traffic, but the police seemed less interested in sniffing out anti-Ice protesters than they were in posing for pictures next to a bubble machine with March of Dimes volunteers dressed as Darth Vader and other Star Wars characters.“We had the LAPD’s community engagement Hummer come by earlier and they told us we had nothing to worry about,” event organizer Tanya Adolph said. “They said they’d pull us if there was any risk to our safety. Our numbers are down markedly, I won’t hide that, but we’ve still managed to raise $300,000.”Local activists have called for demonstrations against the immigration crackdown; one demonstration set for Boyle Heights east of downtown and the other outside City Hall. Many activists, though, were worried about continuing Ice raids, particularly in working-class, predominantly Latino parts of the LA area such as Paramount – and worried, too, that any national guard presence heightened the risk of violence.Governor Gavin Newsom’s office reported on Sunday that about 300 of the promised 2,000 national guardsmen had deployed in the LA area. In addition to the small presence downtown, a group of them was reported to have driven through Paramount, scene of clashes between protesters and local police outside a Home Depot on Saturday.Trump congratulated the national guardsmen on a “great job” after what he called “two days of violence, clashes and unrest” but, as several California political leaders pointed out, the national guard had not yet deployed when city police and sheriff’s deputies used tear gas and flash-bang grenades to clear the streets.Both Ice and local activists estimated that about 45 people were arrested on Friday and Saturday, and several were reported to have been injured in confrontations with the police.Nick Stern, a news photographer, said he was shot in the leg by a less-lethal police round and was in hospital awaiting surgery. David Huerta, a prominent union leader with the Service Employees International Union, was also treated in hospital before being transferred to the Metropolitan detention center, the federal lockup in downtown LA.One of many slogans spray-painted on the walls of the federal complex, within eyeshot of the national guard and the news crews, read: “Free Huerta.”Others, daubed liberally on the walls of the complex around an entire city block, expressed rage against Ice and the Los Angeles police in equal measure. “Fuck ICE. Kill all cops!” one graffiti message said. “LAPD can suck it,” read another.Elsewhere in downtown Los Angeles, little seemed out of the ordinary. Homeless people slept undisturbed on a small patch of lawn on the south side of City Hall. Traffic moved unhindered past the county criminal court building and the main entrance to City Hall on Spring Street.Alejandro Ames, a Mexican American protester, who had traveled up from San Diego sat at a folding table on the west side of City Hall with a hand-scrawled sign that read: “Republic against ICE and the police”.Ames said he was a Republican and hoped this would give extra credence to his plea for restraint by the federal authorities. “I don’t want ‘em to go crazy,” he said. “I want ‘em to go home.” More

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      ABC News suspends journalist after calling Trump and adviser ‘world-class’ haters

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      ABC News has suspended its senior national correspondent after he described top White House aide Stephen Miller as “richly endowed with the capacity for hatred” on social media.In a now deleted post, Terry Moran, who recently conducted an interview with Donald Trump, said that the president and his deputy chief of staff, Miller, were both “world-class” haters.An ABC News spokesperson said that Moran “has been suspended pending further evaluation”, adding: “ABC News stands for objectivity and impartiality in its news coverage and does not condone subjective personal attacks on others. The post does not reflect the views of ABC News and violated our standards.”According to a screenshot of the post, Moran said that Miller was not the brains behind Trumpism and his ability to translate the movement’s “impulses” into policy was “not brains. It’s bile.”“You can see that his hatreds are his spiritual nourishment,” Moran added. “He eats his hate.”He added of Trump: “Trump is a world-class hater. But his hatred only a means to an end, and that end [is] his own glorification.”Miller shot back, saying: “The most important fact about Terry’s full public meltdown is what it shows about the corporate press in America. For decades, the privileged anchors and reporters narrating and gatekeeping our society have been radicals adopting a journalist’s pose. Terry pulled off his mask.”The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, described Moran’s rhetoric as “unacceptable and unhinged” on Fox News. “I think this speaks to the distrust that the American public have in the legacy media,” she added. JD Vance, the vice-president, described Moran’s post as a “vile smear”.ABC News’ suspension of Moran comes nearly six months after the organisation agreed to pay $15m to a Trump presidential foundation or museum after he filed a defamation case following anchor George Stephanopoulos repeating an assertion on ABC’s This Week that Trump had been found “liable for rape” in a lawsuit filed by the columnist E Jean Carroll. He had not.The latest incident will probably deepen suspicion on the right that US mainstream media outlets are fundamentally biased against the administration.In its statement, ABC News maintained a position of neutrality, saying: “ABC News stands for objectivity and impartiality in its news coverage and does not condone subjective personal attacks on others.” More

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      From friends to foes: how Trump turned on the Federalist Society

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      The world’s attention last week was gripped by Donald Trump’s abrupt fallout with the tech tycoon Elon Musk. Yet at the same time, and with the help of a rather unflattering epithet, the president has also stoked a rift between his Maga royal court and the conservative legal movement whose judges and lawyers have been crucial in pulling the US judiciary to the right.The word was “sleazebag”, which Trump deployed as part of a lengthy broadside on Truth Social, his social media platform. The targets of his wrath were the Federalist Society, an influential conservative legal organization, and Leonard Leo, a lawyer associated with the group who has, in recent years, branched out to become one of the most powerful rightwing kingmakers in the US.In his post, Trump said that during his first term “it was suggested that I use The Federalist Society as a recommending source on Judges. I did so, openly and freely, but then realized that they were under the thumb of a real ‘sleazebag’ named Leonard Leo, a bad person who, in his own way, probably hates America, and obviously has his own separate ambitions. He openly brags how he controls Judges, and even Justices of the United States Supreme Court – I hope that is not so, and don’t believe it is!”Founded in 1982, the Federalist Society is an important player in the conservative movement. Many conservative lawyers, judges, law students and law clerks are members of the group, attend its events or run in its general orbit. Republican presidents use its recommendations to pick judges for vacant judicial seats.In the days following Trump’s Truth Social harangue, people in the conservative legal world, which is centered in Washington DC but spans law schools and judge’s chambers across the country, are wondering what this rift portends. Is this a classic Trump tantrum that will soon blow over? Or does it speak to a larger schism, with even the famously conservative Federalist Society not rightwing enough – or fanatically loyal enough – to satisfy Trump?“I don’t think this will blow over,” Stuart Gerson, a conservative attorney and a former acting US attorney general, said. “Because it’s not an event. It’s a condition … He thinks judges are his judges, and they’re there to support his policies, rather than the oath that they take [to the constitution].”In recent months, Trump has been stymied repeatedly by court rulings by federal judges. His rage has been particularly acute when the judges are ones whom he or other Republican presidents appointed. The Maga world has turned aggressively against Amy Coney Barrett, for example, after the supreme court justice voted contrary to the Trump line in several key cases.The immediate cause of Trump’s recent outburst was a ruling by the US court of international trade against his sweeping tariffs on foreign goods. In this case, his anger appears to have had less to do with the judges than with the fact that a group of conservative lawyers and academics, including one who co-chairs the board of the Federalist Society, had filed a brief in the case challenging his tariffs.Trump is probably also aware that the New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA), an anti-regulation, pro-free market legal group affiliated with Leo and the billionaire Charles Koch, has sued, separately, to stop the tariffs.John Vecchione, an attorney at the NCLA, noted that the Federalist Society is a broad tent, with conservative jurists of many different inclinations and factions, including free marketeers and libertarians who do not subscribe to Trump’s economic nationalism. Members often disagree with each other or find themselves on different sides of a case. This February, a federal prosecutor affiliated with the group, Danielle Sassoon, resigned after she said the Trump administration tried to pressure her to drop a case.The “real question”, Vecchione said, is what diehard Maga lawyers closest to Trump are telling him.“Are they trying to form a new organization? Or are they trying to do to the Federalist Society what they’ve done to the House Republican caucus, for instance … where nobody wants to go up against Trump on anything?” he said. “I think that some of the people around Trump believe that any right-coded organization has to do his bidding.”A newer legal organization, the Article III Project (A3P), appears to have captured Trump’s ear in his second term. The organization was founded by Mike Davis, a rabidly pro-Trump lawyer, and seems to be positioning itself as a Maga alternative to the Federalist Society. On its website, A3P claims to have “helped confirm” three supreme court justices, 55 federal circuit judges and 13 federal appellate judges.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionDavis recently asserted in the Hill that the Federalist Society “abandoned” Trump during his various recent legal travails. “And not only did they abandon him – they had several [Federalist Society] leaders who participated in the lawfare and threw gas on the fire,” Davis said.Although Leo was a “a close ally” of Trump during his first term, the Wall Street Journal reported, Trump and Leo “haven’t spoken in five years”.Leo has responded to Trump’s outburst delicately. In a short statement, he said he was “very grateful for President Trump transforming the federal courts, and it was a privilege being involved”, adding that the reshaping of the federal bench would be “President Trump’s most important legacy”.Yet this Tuesday, a lengthy piece in the Wall Street Journal – pointedly titled “This Conservative Is Doing Just Fine, Thank You, After Getting Dumped by Trump” – argued that Leo is “unbounded by the pressures of re-election or dependence on outside money”, and is the “rare conservative, who, after being cast out of Trump’s inner circle, remains free to pursue his own vision of what will make America great again”. In 2021, a Chicago billionaire gave Leo a $1.6bn political donation, thought to be the largest such donation in US history. As a result, Leo has an almost unprecedented power in terms of dark-money influence.The article also noted that much of Leo’s focus has shifted to the entertainment industry, where he is funding big-budget television series and films that channel conservative values.Vecchione thinks that Trump’s tendency to surround himself with sycophants and loyalists will work against him.“If you have a lawyer who only tells you what makes you happy, and only does what you say to do, you don’t have a good lawyer,” Vecchione said. “That’s not a good way to get lawyers. Not a good way to get judges, either.” More

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      Stop bending the knee to Trump: it’s time for anticipatory noncompliance | David Kirp

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      During the first 100-plus days of his presidency, Donald Trump has done his damnedest to remake the US in his image. Fearing Hurricane Donald, a host of universities, law firms, newspapers, public schools and Fortune 500 companies have rushed to do his bidding, bowing before he even comes calling. Other institutions cower, in hopes that they will go unnoticed.But this behavior, which social scientists call “anticipatory compliance”, smoothes the way to autocracy because it gives the Trump regime unlimited power without his having to lift a finger. Halting autocracy in its tracks demands a counter-strategy – let’s call it anticipatory noncompliance.Examples of anticipatory compliance are legion.Goodbye, academic freedom: Trump means to impose his anti-intellectual ideology on higher education. He is using unproven allegations of antisemitism and claims of discriminatory diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs as an excuse to punish top-ranked private universities – initially hapless Columbia, then other schools including Harvard, Princeton, Cornell and Northwestern – by withholding billions of dollars in federal grants. My own university, the University of California, Berkeley, anticipates that it will be added to this list when Trump turns his attention to nationally renowned public universities.“Be afraid” is the message for every university – threats to withhold funds from schools that use “woke” language have prompted some that aren’t even under the gun to censor themselves, excising words like “race”, “gender”, “class” and “equity” from course titles and curriculums.Anticipatory compliance also affects the actions of public schools. Worried that, because of their alleged “wokeness”, they will lose the federal dollars that deliver extra help to those who need it most, school systems have altered their curriculum to whitewash the historical record and restrict the literature available to students. Adieu, Toni Morrison and Rosa Parks.Goodbye, free press: Disney and Meta shelled out a combined $40m to settle baseless libel lawsuits brought by Trump, and Paramount is negotiating to make Trump’s spurious 60 Minutes lawsuit disappear.On the eve of the 2024 election, Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s founder and the owner of the Washington Post, pulled an editorial endorsing Kamala Harris, to stay in Trump’s good graces. So did the Los Angeles Times, whose owner is a billionaire businessman.Goodbye, legal representation: Nine leading law firms succumbed to blackmail to get rid of the president’s executive orders that punished a few firms for displeasing him. Collectively, they agreed to provide more than $1bn worth of pro bono legal work to causes of Trump’s choosing. Now they’re being asked to defend the coal industry and tariffs, which surely isn’t what they expected.What’s more, some top-drawer firms have stopped providing pro bono work on immigration lawsuits and other hot topic issues. Instead, they are putting their talent at Trump’s disposal, neutering themselves while the White House makes mincemeat of the rule of law.Hello, toadying: To curry favor and avoid ridicule in a Trump tweet, dozens of major companies, ranging from Amazon to Pepsi, are treating the president as if he were king, reducing or abandoning their DEI programs without being specifically threatened.Those who bend the knee rationalize their actions as simply a prudent survival strategy. But that’s delusory, for the historical record shows that anticipatory compliance paves the road to autocracy. Bullies like Trump always demand more from their supplicants – more money, more abandoning principles, more loyalty-oath behavior. Anticipatory compliance feeds the beast, showing authoritarians how much they can get away with.Here’s the good news – anticipatory noncompliance is on the rise. Challenges to Trump’s unconstitutional actions have emerged in higher and K-12 education, the legal profession and the corporate world. The citizenry is now making its voice heard.Spearheaded by Harvard’s defiant pose, a growing number of colleges and universities are pushing back against Trump’s outrageous demands. A recent statement from hundreds of college administrators declared that “we speak with one voice against the unprecedented government overreach and political interference now endangering American higher education”. Faculty senates in the Big 10 Academic Alliance crafted a “mutual defense compact”; behind the scenes, the presidents of about 10 elite private universities are deciding what red lines they won’t cross.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionRather than meekly comply with Trump’s monarchical demand that public schools eliminate DEI initiatives or risk losing federal funds, 19 states have gone to court, contesting the administration’s contorted reading of civil rights law.The CEOs that scaled back their companies’ diversity programs misread the market and have suffered the consequences. Diversity is a popular goal that many investors and consumers take into account in their decisions. When Target rolled back DEI, the company had to confront a consumer boycott and a 17% stock drop. Meanwhile, corporations like Costco and Apple, which have stood firm, are on buyers’ and investors’ good guy list.Several law firms refused to cave in the face of Trump’s blackmail tactics, instead taking the administration to court. Not only is that the right thing to do; it could turn out to be the profitable course. The judges are unequivocally on their side. And when Microsoft dropped a firm that surrendered to Trump, signing on with a firm that’s taking the administration to court, it signaled that virtue may be financially rewarded.After months of quiescence, with the populace overwhelmed by the tsunami of outrages, popular opposition is emerging. On May Day, tens of thousands of demonstrators participated in nearly 1,000 anti-Trump demonstrations.Restoring democracy is no easy task, for it is infinitely easier to destroy than rebuild. It will take a years-long fight that deploys an arsenal of tactics, ranging from mass demonstrations and consumer boycotts to litigation and political organizing. It’s grueling work, but if autocracy is to be defeated there’s no option. “Not everything that is faced can be changed; but nothing can be changed until it is faced,” observed James Baldwin, in a 1962 New York Times article. A half-century later, that message still rings true.What’s giving me hope nowCourts have stood firm in their defense of the rule of law, pushing back against Trump’s power-grab executive orders. Americans are participating in mass demonstrations nationwide and voting for Democratic candidates in local elections. What’s more, Americans are voting with their wallets – spurred by a consumer boycott, the value of Tesla shares has plunged by close to $700bn from its peak a year ago.

      David Kirp is professor emeritus at the Goldman School of Public Policy, University of California, Berkeley More

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      Trump news at a glance: ‘This is not justice’ – the uprising over Ice raids on LA

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      Donald Trump’s homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, on Saturday pushed back against the protesters opposing immigration raids in Los Angeles: “A message to the LA rioters: you will not stop us or slow us down. @Icegov will continue to enforce the law. And if you lay a hand on a law enforcement officer, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”Stephen Miller, an immigration hardliner and the White House deputy chief of staff, described the protests as a “violent insurrection”. During protests at a federal detention facility in downtown LA, David Huerta, a senior union official, was arrested in a police response that included teargas and flash-bangs. Hospitalised for his injuries, Huerta released a statement: “Hard-working people, and members of our family and our community, are being treated like criminals. We all collectively have to object to this madness because this is not justice.”Following are the key Trump administration stories of the day:National guard pitted against LA immigration raid protests The Trump administration will deploy the national guard to immigration protests in Los Angeles, the border czar, Tom Homan, said on Saturday, as an immigration crackdown in the area erupted into mass protests with police in riot gear deploying teargas at bystanders. Arrests by immigration authorities in Los Angeles come as Donald Trump and his administration push to fulfil promises to carry out mass deportations across the country.Read the full story‘Very serious consequences’ if Musk switched to DemocratsTrump warned Elon Musk on Saturday that he faces “very serious consequences” if he funds Democratic candidates following the pair’s epic public bust-up. He said in an NBC News interview to be broadcast on Sunday: “If he does, he’ll have to pay the consequences for that. He’ll have to pay very serious consequences if he does that.” Trump said he had no intention to speak to Musk and no wish to repair his relationship with Musk. “I’m too busy doing other things.”Read the full storyVance plays down ‘Elon flying off the handle’JD Vance said Elon Musk was making a “huge mistake” going after Donald Trump. “I hope that eventually Elon comes back into the fold. Maybe that’s not possible now because he’s gone so nuclear … Look, it happens to everybody. I’ve flown off the handle way worse than Elon Musk did in the last 24 hours … I actually think if Elon chilled out a little bit, everything would be fine.”Read the full storyTravel ban ‘racist and hostile’, says Iranian governmentTehran denounced the US travel ban on Iranians and citizens of 11 other mostly Middle Eastern and African countries, saying it was a sign of a “racist mentality”. Donald Trump signed the executive order on Wednesday. Alireza Hashemi-Raja, an Iranian foreign ministry official responsible for Iranians abroad, said the measure – which takes effect on 9 June – “indicates the deep hostility of American decision-makers towards the Iranian and Muslim people”.Read the full storyWhat else happened today:

      Lauren Gambino profiles Kristy Noem, Donald Trump’s homeland security secretary: “Noem leads the sprawling department at the heart of the president’s hardline vision to carry out the largest deportation campaign in American history.”

      An international neo-Nazi terrorist organization calling itself the Base is continuing to build in the US and planning a new paramilitary training event – as the FBI under Trump appointee Kash Patel has signalled it is no longer prioritizing investigations of far-right extremism. Ben Makuch reports
      Catching up? Here’s what happened on 6 June 2025. More