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CA Gov. Issues Threat, White House Says ‘Bring It On’

3 mins read
Karoline Leavitt
Photo Credit: BruceSchaff, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

The White House isn’t backing down after California Governor Gavin Newsom issued a legal threat.

Newsom has threatening to sue over the administration’s demand that UCLA pay $1 billion for failing to protect Jewish students.

His challenge was met with a blunt response from White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt: “Bring it on.”

Newsom accused President Donald Trump’s administration of “extortion” last week after the Department of Justice proposed the massive settlement in response to long-running allegations that UCLA tolerated antisemitism on campus.

Leavitt pushed back from the White House podium, saying the administration was “well within its legal right” to make such a proposal.

“Bring it on, Gavin,” Leavitt told reporters. “This administration is well within its legal right to do this and we want to ensure that our colleges and our universities are respecting the First Amendment rights and the religious liberties of students on their campuses and UCLA has failed to do that.

“And I have a whole list of examples that I will forward to Gavin Newsom’s press office if he hasn’t seen them himself,” she added.

Under the administration’s plan, UCLA would pay $1 billion to the federal government and contribute $172 million to a claims fund for victims of civil rights violations.

In exchange, the school would see $584 million in federal research funding restored.

UCLA’s troubles escalated during the 2023 anti-Israel protests, when the campus allegedly hosted a “Jew Exclusion Zone” requiring students to denounce Israel before entering certain areas.

University officials were accused of privately supporting the protests and rewarding activists for their participation.

The controversy already cost UCLA $6.5 million in a discrimination settlement with students and a professor earlier this summer.

As part of that July 29 agreement, the university pledged $2.33 million to be split between its antisemitism prevention fund and several Jewish organizations.

Newsom dismissed the administration’s demands, telling reporters, “Donald Trump today is trying to silence academic freedom; he’s attacking one of the most important public institutions in the United States of America.”

“He has threatened us through extortion with a billion-dollar fine unless we do his bidding,” Newsom complained.

“So as long as I am governor, I will stand tall and push back against that, and I believe every member of the California legislature feels the same way.”

On Tuesday, his press office used the social media to taunt Trump over an unrelated redistricting dispute, posting a parody of the president’s signature all-caps style.

“DONALD TRUMP, THE LOWEST POLLING PRESIDENT IN RECENT HISTORY, THIS IS YOUR SECOND-TO-LAST WARNING!!! (THE NEXT ONE IS THE LAST ONE!) STAND DOWN NOW OR CALIFORNIA WILL COUNTER-STRIKE (LEGALLY!) TO DESTROY YOUR ILLEGAL CROOKED MAPS IN RED STATES.”

The post continued: “PRESS CONFERENCE COMING — HOSTED BY AMERICA’S FAVORITE GOVERNOR, GAVIN NEWSOM. FINAL WARNING NEXT. YOU WON’T LIKE IT!!! THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER.”

The message echoed Trump’s own social media habits on Truth Social, where he often fires off rapid, stylized missives about political fights.

Newsom, widely seen as a possible 2028 Democratic presidential contender, also sent a formal letter to Trump on Monday urging him to drop the escalating redistricting battle.

He accused the president of trying to “rig congressional maps to hold onto power before a single vote is cast in the 2026 election.”

The governor also took aim at Trump’s emergency declaration in Washington, D.C., which allowed federal intervention in the city’s crime crisis.

He denounced the move as an expansion of federal power aimed at Democratic-led cities.

“President Trump is peddling the same tired lie he used in Los Angeles — claiming there’s rampant lawlessness in Democratic cities like Washington, D.C,” he stated.

“His authoritarian orders aren’t about safety — they’re an attack on the very foundation of our nation and a slap in the face to democracy.”

While Newsom painted the crackdown as political theater, the White House touted immediate results.

Leavitt announced that on the first night of operations, roughly 850 officers and agents made nearly two dozen arrests.

The deployment of the National Guard and federal takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department resulted in 23 arrests for offenses ranging from homicide to firearm violations and driving under the influence. Six illegal firearms were also seized.

“Over the course of the next month, the Trump administration will relentlessly pursue and arrest every violent criminal in the district who breaks the law, undermines public safety and endangers law-abiding Americans,” Leavitt said.

“President Trump will not be deterred by soft-on-crime Democrats and media activists who refuse to acknowledge this rampant violence on our streets. He is going to make our nation’s capital the most beautiful and safe city on Earth, just as he promised on the campaign trail.”

By Tuesday night, Newsom’s press office was back online with another jab: “DONALD ‘TACO’ TRUMP, AS MANY CALL HIM, ‘MISSED’ THE DEADLINE!!! CALIFORNIA WILL NOW DRAW NEW, MORE ‘BEAUTIFUL MAPS,’ THEY WILL BE HISTORIC AS THEY WILL END THE TRUMP PRESIDENCY (DEMS TAKE BACK THE HOUSE!).

“BIG PRESS CONFERENCE THIS WEEK WITH POWERFUL DEMS AND GAVIN NEWSOM — YOUR FAVORITE GOVERNOR — THAT WILL BE DEVASTATING FOR ‘MAGA.’ THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER! — GN,” the post concluded.

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Clark Kelley

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