Newsom blasts Trump’s National Guard power grab, vows to keep fighting

Sacramento, California – Governor Gavin Newsom sharply criticized a federal appeals court ruling Thursday that allows former President Donald Trump to maintain control over California’s National Guard — but welcomed the court’s rejection of Trump’s broader claim to unchecked authority over state forces.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a unanimous decision halting a lower court’s finding that Trump acted illegally when he activated the California National Guard in response to protests over immigration raids in Los Angeles. The deployment, made without the governor’s consent, marked the first time since 1965 that a president had federalized a state’s National Guard against the will of its governor.

In a statement following the ruling, Newsom acknowledged the setback but focused on what he described as a key legal victory: the court’s refusal to endorse Trump’s sweeping assertion that a president can take over a state’s National Guard without being answerable to the courts.

“The court rightly rejected Trump’s claim that he can do whatever he wants with the National Guard and not have to explain himself to a court,” Newsom said. “The President is not a king and is not above the law.”

For Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta, the ruling only sharpens their argument that Trump’s use of the military as domestic law enforcement was not just unlawful but authoritarian. Both officials pledged to continue challenging the deployment and its broader constitutional implications.

At the heart of the dispute is a question of federalism: to what extent can the president override the authority of a governor to deploy state troops? The Ninth Circuit said the Trump administration had provided enough evidence to justify the immediate deployment — pointing to incidents in which protesters reportedly pinned down federal officers, hurled objects, and damaged buildings. But the court stopped well short of granting the executive branch unchecked military discretion.

In many ways, Newsom’s response to the ruling underscores a longer political arc — one in which California, often at odds with Trump’s White House, has positioned itself as a legal counterweight to federal power. In this case, the stakes are particularly high, as the legal boundaries of domestic military authority remain murky.

California’s leadership insists the fight is not over.

“We will press forward with our challenge to President Trump’s authoritarian use of U.S. military soldiers against citizens,” Newsom said.

For now, the California National Guard remains under federal control. But the legal battle continues — and so does the governor’s effort to reassert the state’s role in deciding when, how, and why its soldiers are deployed.