Governor Gavin Newsom of California appeared on Thursday's episode of the New York Times podcast, "The Daily", as he engaged in a tense standoff with President Donald Trump over the military's involvement in anti-deportation protests in Los Angeles.
Trump deployed nearly 5,000 National Guard troops and Marines to the city to clamp down on the protests, against Newsom's wishes, and the state of California responded by suing his administration, accusing it of an "unprecedented power grab".
Newsom accused Trump of inflaming the situation by mobilising the military. Newsom argued that law enforcement officers in Los Angeles had routine experience dealing with protests and said that local officers had the situation under control.
"We deal with civil unrest. That's what law enforcement does", Newsom said. "The military's simply not needed. But what he's doing is trying to gin things up to create proble"
A small number of demonstrators have looted, vandalised and set cars on fire, and Newsom condemned those actions. But he suggested that the response from Trump was disproportionate.
