This has, by all accounts, been a terrible week for President Donald Trump. Los Angeles is in meltdown after days of intense protests against federal immigration raids conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice). Fear and anger is spreading across the country, with demonstrations taking place in New York, Chicago, Seattle and Atlanta. There have been clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement, vandalism and looting, and as a result a curfew was issued for LA’s downtown area, and nearly 5,000 troops, including Marines and the National Guard, urgently deployed.
The California governor Gavin Newsom has openly and strongly criticised Trump’s response, accusing him of “pulling a military dragnet” across LA. Newsom, who in a nationally televised address proclaimed that "democracy is under assault right before our eyes", adding that "the moment we've feared, has arrived. He called on Americans to stand up to President Trump. All of this, and without his best friend Elon Musk to support him.
