A weak Donald Trump wants California to be his punching bag | Opinion
With his national agenda on the brink as the United States Senate balks at trillions in additional debt, and as President Donald Trump loses the support of the world’s richest man in Elon Musk, the president has chosen to shift attention westward, back to his favorite punching bag. Instead of giving Los Angeles the tens of billions of dollars the region needs to recover and rebuild from January’s devastating fires, Trump instead dispatched federal law enforcement to round up immigrants outside of a Home Depot — then called in the National Guard and the Marines.
This feels like nothing short of an attack on California, the nation’s largest state and a global engine of innovation, by our president. This weekend’s events were merely the excuse Trump needed to test this state in ways we have never confronted before.
How can any state succeed when its leader wants it to bend to his political will or fail?
The effects of Trump’s growing war against California will only worsen over time. So far, D.C. has denied $40 billion in economic assistance and reimbursements for rebuilding Los Angeles, and the city and the state face an unimaginable financial blow. In addition, Trump’s global trade war has already halved activity at the once-busy Port of Los Angeles.
We aren’t yet halfway through the first year of Trump’s term in office, but the pattern is fast emerging — and the reality is evident: We’re on our own.
California has only begun to come to terms with this reality. Los Angeles can seem a world away from Northern California, but our state’s largest city has been preparing for the global stage: In 2026, it will host games of the globe’s largest sporting tournament, soccer’s World Cup. In 2028, it will host the Summer Olympics. If Los Angeles shines, the country shines. Yet Trump doesn’t want to invest in Los Angeles’s success.
And what is Trump doing? He has dispatched law enforcement from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to raid garment factories, Home Depot parking lots, and donut shops. He has stripped our governor of his ability to manage protests that started calmly. He has sought to tear Los Angeles down in hopes of rehabilitating his own shaky standing.
And to what constructive end?
Sadly, the attacks on the Golden State play well elsewhere, but a clear pattern has emerged: The rest of the nation is not immune.
California — Los Angeles in particular — is in the president’s crosshairs today. But it will be Chicago, Minneapolis, Seattle or New York tomorrow. Trump is promising Americans as much.
“We’re going to have troops everywhere. We’re not going to let this happen to our country,” the president told reporters on Sunday. “If we see danger to our country, to our citizens, we’ll be very, very strong in terms of law and order.”
This is a suffocating level of hypocrisy, coming from a president who was slow to respond to the Jan. 6 siege of the nation’s Capitol.
It was perhaps inevitable that Trump would choose California as his lead target. But we are not the lone innovator under siege; the nation’s universities, medical research apparatus, and perhaps soon our space program are all under financial attack. Trump so far isn’t building anything other than a larger apparatus to deport immigrants. And he is centering the destruction on places and institutions once without peer in the world.
The geopolitics of this state make it hard to unite in the best of times. But we had better find a way to stand together and resist what Trump is doing to California — or he will tear us apart.
BEHIND THE STORY
MOREWhat are editorials, and who writes them?
Editorials represent the collective opinion of The Sacramento Bee Editorial Board.
They do not reflect the individual opinions of board members or the views of Bee reporters in the news section. Bee reporters do not participate in editorial board deliberations or weigh in on board decisions. The same rules apply to our sister publications, The Modesto Bee, Fresno Bee, Merced Sun-Star and San Luis Obispo Tribune.
In Sacramento, our board includes Bee Executive Editor Colleen McCain Nelson, McClatchy California Opinion Editor Marcos Breton, opinion writers Robin Epley, Tom Philp, LeBron Antonio Hill and op-ed editor Hannah Holzer.
In Fresno and Merced, the board includes Central Valley Executive Editor Don Blount, Senior Editor Christopher Kirkpatrick, Opinion Editor Juan Esparza Loera, and opinion writer Tad Weber.
In Modesto, the board includes Senior Editor Carlos Virgen and in San Luis Obispo, it includes Opinion Editor Stephanie Finucane.
We base our opinions on reporting by our colleagues in the news section, and our own reporting and interviews. Our members attend public meetings, call people and follow-up on story ideas from readers just as news reporters do. Unlike objective reporters, we share our judgments and state clearly what we think should happen based on our knowledge.
Read more by clicking the arrow in the upper right.
Tell us what you think
You may or may not agree with our perspective. We believe disagreement is healthy and necessary for a functioning democracy. If you would like to share your own views on events important to the Sacramento region, you may write a letter to the editor (150 words or less) using this form, or email an op-ed (650-750 words) to opinion@sacbee.com. Due to a high volume of submissions, we are not able to publish everything we receive.
Support The Sacramento Bee
These conversations are important for our community. Keep the conversation going by supporting The Sacramento Bee. Subscribe here.
This story was originally published June 10, 2025 at 4:00 AM with the headline "A weak Donald Trump wants California to be his punching bag | Opinion."