President Donald Trump expressed support for Tom Homan to arrest Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) after the Democratic governor dared the “border czar” to arrest him after the Trump administration called in the National Guard to quell protests in Los Angeles.
“I would do it,” Trump said about whether Homan should arrest Newsom, as he returned to the White House early afternoon on Monday.
“He’s done a terrible job,” Trump said about the California governor. “I like Gavin Newsom. He’s a nice guy, but he’s grossly incompetent. Everybody knows. All you have to do is look at the little railroad he’s building. It’s about 100 times over budget.”
Newsom has threatened to file a lawsuit against the Trump administration after the White House authorized the National Guard to handle riots, which at times were violent, against Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Los Angeles over the weekend.
“The people that are causing the problem are professional agitators,” Trump told reporters Monday. “They’re insurrectionists, they’re bad people. They should be in jail.”
NBC News previously reported that Homan threatened that state and local leaders who interfered with the federal effort to quell the protests could be arrested, prompting Newsom to taunt him.
“Tom, arrest me, let’s go,” Newsom said Sunday on MSNBC.
Homan, however, sought to tamp down tensions Monday morning during his appearance on MSNBC, claiming his comments with NBC News were taken out of context and were “very dishonest.”
“They can’t cross that line of putting their hands on officers,” Homan said about protesters.
The “border czar” claimed that he was then asked if that included Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass, a Democrat.
“They’re not above the law either,” Homan said. But Homan also said that he “never threatened to arrest Gov. Newsom. … That report is dishonest.”
Naomi Lim contributed to this report.
