California vs. The Orange Dictatorship

Trump is Turning LA into a proving ground for his authoritarianism

First things first: Donald Trump doesn’t give a damn about the bill of rights, the rule of law, or even his own voters. What he cares about—what he’s always cared about—is power. Raw, unfiltered, strongman power. And right now, he’s using California as his personal proving ground for how much authoritarianism the American people will swallow before they finally gag.

The streets of Los Angeles have become a battleground, not just between protesters and police, but between the state of California and the Trump administration. What began as opposition to aggressive Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids has spiralled into violent clashes, militarised crackdowns, and a deepening constitutional crisis. At the heart of this turmoil lies a toxic mix of political posturing, inflamed rhetoric, and a failure of leadership at both the state and federal levels.

Trump’s decision to deploy 2,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles County—against the explicit objections of Governor Gavin Newsom—was not a measured response to unrest but a deliberate escalation. The Trump administration’s rhetoric, including threats to arrest Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass for obstructing federal immigration enforcement, has turned a policy dispute into a volatile standoff. When Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, vowed to prosecute state officials who resist ICE operations, Newsom fired back, daring him to “just get it over with.” This is not governance; it is political theatre with real-world consequences.

Trump’s henchmen—sorry, his administration officials—have decided that the best way to “secure the border” is to turn downtown LA into a war zone. The scenes in Los Angeles—burning cars, flash-bang grenades, protesters blocking roads—are a direct result of this escalation. While some demonstrators have indeed turned violent, the administration’s heavy-handed tactics, including mass arrests and the premature mobilisation of the National Guard, have only poured petrol on the fire. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem insists the Guard’s presence is to protect peaceful protesters. The optics tell a different story from here in Europe: armed troops in American cities, pushing back crowds outside federal buildings. The talk in European political circles now is that Trump is using the National Guard like his own personal militia. It evokes memories of Russian troops entering Czechoslovakia during the 1968 Prague Spring or the 1956 uprising in Hungary.

Not content with being heavy-handed with protesters, Trump enablers are also shooting journalists. Shooting journalists is generally considered very bad form in any democracy. Not “bad” like pineapple on pizza or wearing socks with sandals. Bad like a small child with a flamethrower—unpredictable, irresponsible, and likely to end with somebody screaming to death in an emergency room. Yet here we are, watching the LAPD and National Guard treat reporters like human targets at a redneck barbecue. Lauren Tomasi, an Australian journalist just trying to do her job, took a rubber bullet to the calf. Meanwhile, British photographer Nick Stern got intimate with a 14mm “sponge bullet” and left the scene looking like an extra from Saving Private Ryan. Stern needed emergency surgery, but still vowed to go back out there, because British stiff upper lips are bulletproof and, in fairness, over the years, have represented incredible journalistic bravery.

The White House claims these actions are “essential” to halting and reversing the invasion of illegal immigrants. Right. Because nothing says “law and order” like firing crowd-control rounds at unarmed journalists and calling it patriotism. Let’s be honest—this isn’t about safety. It’s about intimidation. It’s about sending a message: Don’t watch us too closely, or you might catch a rubber bullet. The South African apartheid regime treated international journalists in the same manner. Freedom of the press isn’t a privilege—it’s the foundation of democracy. Trump and his trigger-happy goons know they won’t be held accountable. It makes honest reporting more problematic and, in some cases, a death sentence.

California Governor Newsom is finally suing, which is great, except lawsuits in the USA move slower than Trump’s attention span. Meanwhile, the White House is already spinning this as “Newsom let LA burn!” Newsom is stuck in a political nightmare where every attempt to stand up to Trump just feeds the narrative that “liberal cities are out of control.” Trump isn’t just testing how far he can push California—he’s testing how far he can push America. If he can federalise the National Guard against a governor’s will today, what’s next? Sending the 101st Airborne to “restore order” in Chicago? Detroit? New York? Any state that votes blue?

This isn’t governance. It’s a Trump tantrum with a military escort. Trump doesn’t care about solving problems—he only cares about owning the blue states”, that voted for someone else, even if it means turning the U.S. into some half-baked parody of a South American dictatorship.

History will judge this moment. Will the USA tolerate a president who treats dissent as an existential threat, deploying troops against his own citizens and political opponents? Or will it reaffirm that no leader is above the checks and balances that safeguard democracy? The answer will define the nation’s future.

The man who once bragged, “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody”, is now seeing if he can get away with something even more crazy: declaring war on an American state.