LA protests: US Speaker says Newsom should be “tarred and feathered” for defying Trump’s immigration raids

US Speaker of the House Mike Johnson delivers remarks at the Invest America Roundtable hosted by President Donald Trump in the State Dinning room at the White House on June 09, 2025 in Washington, DC.

House Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday said California Governor Gavin Newsom “ought to be tarred and feathered” for his resistance to President Donald Trump’s deployment of troops and immigration crackdowns in the state.

Speaking at a House Republican leadership press conference in Washington, Johnson launched a blistering attack on Newsom’s defiance, accusing the Democratic governor of obstructing federal law enforcement operations and siding with criminals.

“I'm not going to give you legal analysis on whether Gavin Newsom should be arrested,” Johnson said, when asked if the governor’s actions warranted legal consequences. “But he ought to be tarred and feathered, I'll say that.”

The speaker's comments come amid a deepening standoff between the Trump administration and California’s state leadership. Over the past week, protests have erupted across Los Angeles in response to aggressive immigration raids and deportations carried out by federal authorities, with state and local officials refusing to cooperate.

Governor Newsom, a vocal critic of the president’s immigration policies, has filed a lawsuit challenging Trump’s decision to send thousands of active-duty military personnel into California without the state’s consent. Newsom accused the president of “fulfilling the deranged fantasy of a dictatorial leader,” escalating tensions with the White House.

But Speaker Johnson doubled down on his condemnation of the governor.

“He's standing in the way of the administration of carrying out of federal law,” Johnson said. “He is applauding the bad guys and standing in the way of the good guys. He is a participant, an accomplice.”

Hundreds of US Marines were expected in Los Angeles on Tuesday after President Donald Trump ordered their deployment in response to protests against immigration arrests and despite objections by state officials.

The 700 elite troops will join around 4,000 National Guard soldiers, amping up the militarization of the tense situation in the sprawling city, which is home to millions of foreign-born and Latino residents.

Newsom wrote on X that US Marines "shouldn't be deployed on American soil facing their own countrymen to fulfill the deranged fantasy of a dictatorial President. This is un-American."

But Trump has branded the LA protesters "professional agitators and insurrectionists."

"If I didn't 'SEND IN THE TROOPS' to Los Angeles the last three nights, that once beautiful and great City would be burning to the ground right now," he wrote on Truth Social on Tuesday.

Trump has called for Newsom's arrest, while the president's ultra-loyal speaker in the House of Representatives, Republican Mike Johnson, on Tuesday declared the California governor "ought to be tarred and feathered."