Trump’s California Crackdown Is a Sign of Weakness

Trump’s rhetoric, as usual, was apocalyptic. “A once great American City, Los Angeles, has been invaded and occupied by Illegal Aliens and Criminals,” he wrote on his personal social media website on Sunday, “Now violent, insurrectionist mobs are swarming and attacking our Federal Agents to try and stop our deportation operations—But these lawless riots only strengthen our resolve.”

Trump also issued a memorandum to the attorney general, the secretary of homeland security, and the secretary of defense. Though stylized as some sort of formal presidential document, it is essentially just a fancy email. It instructs the Pentagon to assign “any other members of the regular armed forces as necessary to augment and support the protection of federal functions and property in any number determined appropriate in his discretion.” He also took steps to federalize the California National Guard, wresting it from Governor Gavin Newsom’s control.

Again, the language here was somewhat overwrought. “In addition, violent protests threaten the security of and significant damage to federal immigration detention facilities and other federal property,” the memorandum claimed. “To the extent that protests or acts of violence directly inhibit the execution of the laws, they constitute a form of rebellion against the authority of the government of the United States.”

A rebellion? Trump is perhaps the nation’s foremost expert on violent attacks on the U.S. government, but here he has missed the mark. Nobody is shooting or killing federal agents. Nobody is occupying or destroying federal buildings. A few Waymo cars have burned so far, sure, but the damage is localized and hardly severe by the city’s own standards. Los Angeles Dodgers fans torched a city bus and looted some stores after their team won their eighth World Series last October, and Trump still welcomed the team to the White House in April.