American President Donald Trump knew that what he needed was news. One that would change the flow of information in the country, which in recent days began with the lavish quarrel between the head of the White House and his until recently sponsor and advisor Elon Musk.
Trump simply had to change the public narrative. He has a flair for these things, as he is more of a media person than a politician.
And the American president did it. Citing a federal law, bypassing the governor of California, he ordered the National Guard of the "Golden State" to join in ensuring order in Los Angeles, given the protests developing there against the deportation of illegal immigrants. The Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, stated that if necessary, there is a readiness to send in infantrymen who are already in mobilization mode.
The American media reacted as expected: the subsequent clashes in California between protesters and regular law enforcement agencies replaced Elon Musk's tweets, with which he fired at Donald Trump in X (formerly Twitter). Thus, in the media coverage, the disagreements around the White House were replaced as the first news by what was happening on the streets of Los Angeles.
But Trump not only managed to change the narrative of the mass media, but also took advantage of what was happening in California for purely political reasons. Every polarizing figure "feeds" on conflicts, the scandal breathes life force into anti-system entities. Trump is a good summary of this maxim.
The very topic of combating illegal immigration into the US is of significant importance for the political platform of the American president, on the basis of which he won the election and received a mandate to implement it.
Therefore, since the beginning of his re-election, he has concentrated his efforts on ensuring this policy. It has three key elements: increasing security and control along the border with Mexico, deporting migrants already present in the country illegally, and eliminating the automatic granting of citizenship to children born in the US to migrants who are illegally present or have temporary status (the implementation of the last element has stalled due to legal objections, including the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which grants automatic citizenship to everyone born in the US).
The statistics on registered attempts to illegally enter the US along the border with Mexico are indicative of the priorities of the Republican administration in combating this problem. Data shows that since Trump took office, there have been an average of 11,000 to 12,000 illegal entry attempts per month. For comparison, during the peak of the migrant pressure on the United States in late 2023, there were an average of 200,000 to 300,000 illegal entry attempts per month.
In fact, it is his policy of controlling migration - whether at the "entry" across the border with Mexico or at the "exit" when detainees are deported - that enjoys the approval of the majority of his fellow citizens. 54% of Americans support the deportation of illegal immigrants, according to the latest CBS News/YouGov survey data from these days. By comparison, his policy of imposing new tariffs is approved by 41% percent.
The issue of illegal immigrants in the United States is serious. If, according to statistics, there are between 11 and 14 million illegal immigrants in the country, between 2 and 3 million of them are concentrated in liberal-minded California.
Before Trump began building a "big and nice wall" along the border with Mexico during his first term, such a thing had already emerged in the minds of Americans. Especially among Trump supporters, who saw migrants as major economic competitors who undercut the price of low-skilled labor.
But the situation in California also has another political dimension. The target of Trump's actions is not only illegal immigrants in the state in question, but also its governor.
It is Gavin Newsom who is one of the few politicians from the Democratic Party who currently have a political horizon that goes beyond their own state.
Gavin Newsom is the closest thing to a political opponent in strategic terms that Donald Trump's MAGA movement has. That's why the battle with the governor is important: it concerns the political identity of America, which must decide whether Newsom's California is a model or an aberration for the United States.
However, the California case also raises another question. That of political hypocrisy.
Trump is right twice. The first is that local authorities in California are failing to cope with the control of illegal immigrants residing there, which leads to the separation of ghettos and the related criminal problems - from domestic crime to drugs.
Moreover, the priority in the government program for the deportation of illegal immigrants is already criminally proven ones. We are talking about people who are not American citizens, but have already committed crimes on American soil.
What can these people do, read a newspaper to them, the lyrical hero of Bulgarian football folklore would exclaim.
Secondly, the American president is right that local authorities have also failed to cope with ensuring order on the streets of Los Angeles. The chaos and anarchy in the city in question were already present before Trump took action to call up the National Guard and deploy infantrymen.
This is a strategic and tactical failure on the part of Gavin Newsom, which the head of the White House took advantage of, taking a step to impose law and order in public order, calling up the California National Guard under federal command.
This action by Trump certainly has an advertising element (on the back of the Democratic governor), but it is a logical move - both from a state (guaranteeing security) and from a purely political (accumulating party dividends) point of view. If Newsom has to be angry with anyone, it is primarily with himself.
Moreover, the protest discontent in the "Golden State" has taken on a violent dimension that cannot be "collected" as the right to protest and freedom of speech.
In other words, everyone in Los Angeles has the right to express their disagreement with Donald Trump's policy of deporting illegal immigrants. But no one has the right to destroy federal or private property while expressing their dissatisfaction.
The difference between the two is this: the first (the right to protest) is guaranteed by the Constitution, the second (violent rioters) is sanctioned by the Constitution.
The issue with political hypocrisy comes from the fact that four years ago, when the United States experienced one of the most shameful moments in its history, namely the storming of the Capitol.
At that time, Donald Trump was not calling for "law and order", but was inciting the enraged crowd of his supporters in Washington. Back then, we wrote that there is no good or bad hooliganism. And that there are no Americans left in the United States.
Given the number of Mexican flags flying on rioters in the streets of Los Angeles, this conclusion deepens its significance.