EXCLUSIVE — One of the leading opponents of President Donald Trump’s «big, beautiful bill» declared not even the commander in chief will be able to deter him from speaking out against what he sees as a bill that falls short of Republicans’ goal of cutting government waste.

«It’ll completely backfire on him,» Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., told Fox News Digital of any attempts by Trump to sway him on the current legislation.

Johnson has become a prominent voice of opposition against the House GOP’s offering to the budget reconciliation process. Senate Republicans finally began the tedious process of parsing through the bill this week.

‘HE’S NOT A BIG FACTOR’: TRUMP’S SENATE ALLIES DISMISS ELON MUSK’S CALLS TO ‘KILL THE BILL’

Lawmakers in the upper chamber, Johnson included, are determined to make changes to the bill, with most wanting to make reductions to Medicaid and food stamps more palatable. Trump has made it clear his bill must pass but has acknowledged the Senate will need to make a few changes.

Trump’s directive has been to deliver a bill that can survive the razor-thin majorities in both chambers.  

Johnson, however, wants to see spending returned to pre-pandemic levels, cuts that are trillions of dollars deeper than what House Republicans could stomach. And he is ready to vote against the bill unless he sees the changes he wants.

And he believes that a pressure campaign from the president against him and other like-minded fiscal hawks will fail.

He said a better approach would be to work with lawmakers and fiscal hawks like him to gain a better understanding of the reality of the country’s fiscal situation, a reality that «is grim,» he said.

SEN. RON JOHNSON PROPOSES ‘LINE-BY-LINE’ CUTS TO PASS TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., talks with reporters in the U.S. Capitol after the House passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act May 22, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

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Johnson has been up front about his disdain for the bill but has so far avoided public retribution from Trump. In fact, the two have spoken twice this week, once on Monday and later during a Senate Finance Committee meeting at the White House Tuesday.

The lawmaker has told Trump he’s in Trump’s corner and that he wants «to see you succeed,» but he has been steadfast in his position that the bill does not go far enough to tackle the national debt.

And the debt continues to climb, nearing $37 trillion and counting, according to Fox News’ National Debt Tracker.

The House’s offering set a goal of $1.5 trillion in spending cuts over the next decade, which lawmakers in the lower chamber have pitched as a positive step forward to righting the country’s fiscal ship, an offering Johnson panned as falling drastically short of the GOP’s promises to cut deep into government spending.

«What’s so disappointing about what happened in the House is it was all rhetoric. It’s all slogans,» Johnson said. «They picked a number. Literally, they picked a number out of the air.»

GOP SENATORS EXPRESS ‘CONCERNS,’ ‘SKEPTICISM’ OVER TRUMP’S SPENDING BILL AFTER MUSK RANT

Johnson views this attempt at the budget reconciliation process as a rare opportunity to «do the hard things» when it comes to spending cuts, but others in the GOP have been more hesitant to cut as deep.

Johnson said a main reason Republicans have so far fallen short of meeting the moment for the most part is that lawmakers don’t understand just how much the federal government shovels out the door year in and year out.

The lawmaker recalled a moment roughly three years ago during a debate over another year-end omnibus spending bill, when each of the dozen appropriations bills is crammed into one, bloated package that is universally reviled and almost always passes.

He asked his colleagues if they really knew just how much the government spends, and no one «volunteered to answer.»

«Nobody knew. I mean, think of that. The largest financier in the world. We’re supposedly, in theory, the 535 members of the board of directors, and nobody knew,» he said. «Why would they? We never talked about it.»

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Johnson has been busy trying to better educate his colleagues, putting together his own charts and graphs that cut out the «noise,» like the latest nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office report that found the legislation would add $2.4 trillion to the national debt over a decade. The GOP has universally panned that projection.

«We can’t accept this as a new normal,» Johnson said. «We can’t accept — you can take pot shots of CBO, but you can’t deny that reality. [It] might be off a little bit, but that is the trajectory, and that’s undeniable.»
 

Tropas de la Guardia Nacional comenzaron a llegar a Los Ángeles este domingo por orden del presidente estadounidense Donald Trump para controlar las protestas contra las redadas de inmigrantes que mantienen en vilo a la ciudad.

Tras su despliegue, se enfrentaron con manifestantes latinos en el centro de la ciudad. Según la prensa local, arrojaron gases lacrimógenos a una creciente multitud reunida frente al Centro de Detención Metropolitano.

Minutos después se escucharon nuevos estallidos mientras algunos manifestantes coreaban “váyanse a casa” y “qué vergüenza”. Agentes uniformados derribaron a una persona, mientras que otra parecía estar sangrando de la cabeza.

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Trump asumió el control federal de las fuerzas de seguridad del estado de California para desplegar soldados en la segunda ciudad más grande del país. Se trata de una medida nunca vista en las últimas décadas y considerada “deliberadamente provocadora” por el gobernador de California, Gavin Newsom.

La medida busca desplegar 2000 efectivos de la Guardia Nacional, una fuerza de reserva de las Fuerzas Armadas estadounidenses, después de protestas y enfrentamientos desatados a causa de una serie de redadas realizadas por las autoridades de inmigración, incluso en el Distrito de la Moda de Los Ángeles.

La situación escaló de tal manera que Tom Homan, el conocido como “zar de la frontera”, amenazó con arrestar a la alcaldesa de la ciudad, Karen Bass, y al gobernador Newsom, “si se exceden” en sus competencias.

“El gobernador de California y la alcaldesa de Los Ángeles podrían enfrentar arrestos si se exceden”, dijo Homan a la cadena NBC News. “Lo digo por cualquiera (…) Es un delito grave resguardar y ocultar a sabiendas a un inmigrante ilegal. Es un delito grave impedir que las fuerzas del orden hagan su trabajo”, advirtió.

Cómo es el despliegue de tropas en Los Ángeles

Unos 300 soldados fueron desplegados el domingo a lo largo y ancho de la ciudad, según el comando militar, mientras una “movilización masiva” de rechazo a las redadas contra inmigrantes fue convocada frente al Ayuntamiento.

En los dos últimos días agentes federales dispararon granadas aturdidoras y gases lacrimógenos contra una multitud movilizada en contra de las detenciones de decenas de migrantes en una ciudad con fuerte población latina.

Según el director adjunto de la policía federal (FBI), Dan Bongino, varias personas fueron detenidas en Los Angeles y también en Nueva York.

La alcaldesa de Los Angeles dijo a un canal local que durante la noche fueron cometidos “actos de vandalismo”, pero sostuvo que la situación “está bajo control”.

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El presidente republicano de la Cámara de Representantes, Mike Johnson, respaldó la posibilidad de recurrir a los marines en servicio activo, además de a la Guardia Nacional, una eventualidad evocada el sábado por el secretario de Defensa, Pete Hegseth.

Las autoridades federales “quieren un espectáculo. No se lo den. Nunca usen la violencia. Hablen pacíficamente”, escribió Newsom en X el sábado por la noche. Además, calificó de “desquiciada” la amenaza de Hegseth.

Incendios y gases lacrimógenos

Las redadas del Servicio de Control de Inmigración y Aduanas (ICE) en otras ciudades estadounidenses desencadenaron protestas en los últimos meses, pero los disturbios de Los Ángeles son los más grandes y prolongados contra las políticas de la administración Trump hasta la fecha.

Según informes de agencias de noticias internacionales, hubo incendios y fuegos artificiales para iluminar las calles durante los enfrentamientos del viernes y el sábado, mientras un manifestante que sostenía una bandera mexicana estaba frente a un automóvil quemado pintado con un eslogan contra el ICE, encargado de las redadas.

“Depende de nosotros defender a nuestra gente”, dijo una residente de Los Ángeles cuyos padres son inmigrantes. “No importa que nos hieran o nos gaseen. (…) No nos pararán nunca. Todo lo que nos queda es nuestra voz”, añadió.

Imágenes de la cadena de televisión local KABC mostraban esta mañana a miembros de la Guardia Nacional desplegados cerca del Ayuntamiento de Los Ángeles antes de llegar a un edificio federal, mientras sacaban equipamiento de sus vehículos.

Además, también captó a tropas a lo largo de la calle Alameda, en el centro de Los Ángeles, y en la localidad de Paramount, de mayoría latina y donde hubo enfrentamientos más intensos.

La Guardia Nacional, una fuerza militar de reserva, es usada en situaciones de emergencia como desastres naturales y, ocasionalmente, en casos de disturbios civiles, pero casi siempre con el consentimiento de las autoridades locales. Es la primera vez desde 1965 que un presidente despliega ese cuerpo sin la solicitud de un gobernador, según publicó en X el exdirector de Human Rights Watch Kenneth Roth.

Donald Trump culpa a la “izquierda radical”

En tanto, Trump culpó este domingo a la “izquierda radical” de estar detrás de los disturbios en la ‘Ciudad de las Estrellas’.

“Estas protestas de la izquierda radical, por instigadores y a menudo alborotadores pagados, no serán toleradas. Además, a partir de ahora, no se permitirá el uso de máscaras en las protestas. ¿Qué tiene que ocultar esta gente y por qué? Una vez más, ¡gracias a la Guardia Nacional por el trabajo bien hecho!”, indicó el mandatario.

Durante la noche, el área metropolitana de Los Ángeles se mantuvo relativamente tranquila en comparación con las protestas que comenzaron el viernes después de que funcionarios federales realizaran redadas migratorias en el condado de Los Ángeles.

La madrugada del domingo, la Policía reportó que detuvo a varias personas tras declarar una reunión en el centro de Los Ángeles como asamblea ilegal. En Paramount, tres personas acusadas de agredir a agentes fueron arrestadas durante la noche.

El sábado se produjeron enfrentamientos cerca de un Home Depot en la propia Paramount, al sur de Los Ángeles, donde agentes federales se encontraban en una oficina cercana del Departamento de Seguridad Nacional.

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Se registraron múltiples personas heridas entre los manifestantes golpeados por balas de goma y las granadas. Las autoridades utilizaron tácticas militares para dispersar a los manifestantes y poder sacar a los detenidos.

La tensión era alta después de una serie de redadas realizadas por las autoridades de inmigración el día anterior, incluso en el Distrito de la Moda de Los Ángeles. El recuento de arrestos de inmigrantes en una semana en la ciudad superaba los 100 detenidos.

(Con información de AFP y EFE)

Riots against the Trump administration’s immigration raids in Southern California are rocking Los Angeles this weekend and California Republicans are pinning blame for the violence on Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass. 

«Gavin Newsom and Karen Bass have a real habit of letting Los Angeles burn,» Republican California Rep. Darell Issa posted to X on Saturday evening. 

«If only Karen Bass fought against the Los Angeles fires like she fights for illegal aliens,» Issa added in another post, referring to the Palisades fire that tore through Southern California in January. 

Riots broke out in Los Angeles on Friday and Saturday as immigration officials carried out raids to remove individuals illegally residing in the left-wing city, which dubbed itself a «sanctuary» for illegal immigrants in November before President Donald Trump was sworn back into the Oval Office. 

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The raids began on Friday, with Bass issuing a statement supporting illegal immigrants in the city and bucking the Trump administration’s deportation efforts. 

«This morning, we received reports of federal immigration enforcement actions in multiple locations in Los Angeles,» Bass said in a statement on Friday. 

SOCIAL MEDIA, TRUMP ADMIN ERUPTS OVER LA MAYOR’S REACTION TO ICE RAIDS: ‘YOU’RE A CRIMINAL TOO’

LA Mayor Karen Bass was blasted on social media for her reaction to ICE raids in her city. (Getty/AP)

«As Mayor of a proud city of immigrants, who contribute to our city in so many ways, I am deeply angered by what has taken place. These tactics sow terror in our communities and disrupt basic principles of safety in our city. My Office is in close coordination with immigrant rights community organizations. We will not stand for this.»

Newsom issued a similar statement on Friday, calling the immigration raids «chaotic and reckless.»

Gov. Gavin Newsom (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

«Continued chaotic federal sweeps, across California, to meet an arbitrary arrest quota are as reckless as they are cruel. Donald Trump’s chaos is eroding trust, tearing families apart, and undermining the workers and industries that power America’s economy,» Newsom’s statement read. 

Newsom’s press office doubled down in support of shielding illegal immigrants from deportation in a response X post to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Saturday. 

«In recent days, violent mobs have attacked ICE Officers and Federal Law Enforcement Agents carrying out basic deportation operations in Los Angeles, California. These operations are essential to halting and reversing the invasion of illegal criminals into the United States. In the wake of this violence, California’s feckless Democrat leaders have completely abdicated their responsibility to protect their citizens,» Leavitt posted to X. 

Newsom’s office responded: «These are anything but basic. Your indiscriminate sweeps are terrifying entire communities and detaining hardworking, tax-paying Californians. It’s cruel escalation and must end.»

Other Democrats in the state have gone even further in their defense of illegal immigrants amid the raids, with Democratic Rep. Norma Torres posting to TikTok on Saturday telling ICE officials to «get the f— out of L.A. so that order can be restored.»

ICE SWEEPS THROUGH LA BUSINESSES AS LOCAL DEMOCRATS CRY FOUL OVER TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS

The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) declared unlawful assembly and issued a city-wide tactical alert on Friday evening as rioters attacked law enforcement officers, the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement on Saturday.

Smoke rises from a burning car on Atlantic Boulevard in the Los Angeles County city of Paramount, California, June 7, 2025. (Reuters/Barbara Davidson)

«Last night, over 1,000 rioters surrounded a federal law enforcement building and assaulted ICE law enforcement officers, slashed tires, defaced buildings, and taxpayer-funded property,» read a statement from DHS. «Our ICE enforcement officers are facing a 413% increase in assaults against them. Disturbingly, in recent days, ICE officers’ family members have been dox[x]ed and targeted as well.»

As chaos broke out on the streets of LA, federal officials have pinned blame for the violence on Democratic elected officials who have «villainized and demonized» ICE law enforcement, Fox Digital previously reported. 

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«The violent targeting of law enforcement in Los Angeles by lawless rioters is despicable and Mayor Bass and Governor Newsom must call for it to end,» DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, for example, wrote in a statement. «The men and women of ICE put their lives on the line to protect and defend the lives of American citizens.… From comparisons to the modern-day Nazi gestapo to glorifying rioters, the violent rhetoric of these sanctuary politicians is beyond the pale. This violence against ICE must end.» 

California Republicans and conservatives have also directed their ire at Democratic leaders for the violence, Fox Digital found. 

Police kick tear gas back to the crowd as people block off the street and set a fire during protests against ICE and immigration raids on Saturday, June 7, 2025, in Paramount, California. (Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

«Gavin Newsom is unqualified for a plethora of reasons, the least of which is his support of illegal alien insurrectionists. He is an all purpose, all around loser,» Hollywood actor and California resident James Woods posted to X.

Woods additionally described Bass as a «Communist» and Newsom as «Grease» in other posts asking to describe the California Democrats in one word. 

«After four years of the Biden administration refusing to enforce our immigration laws, Americans voted for President Trump, who promised to enforce the law and secure the border. Our federal agencies, including ICE, have every right to enforce federal laws, even in sanctuary states,» California Republican Rep. Ken Calvert posted to X. 

«This is on you, Governor. It is a shame that California openly defies federal law and sides with illegal aliens, including hardened criminals, against its own citizens,» Harmeet Dhillon, former vice chair of the California Republican Party and current assistant attorney general for civil rights at the U.S. Department of Justice, posted to X. 

PRESIDENT TRUMP SENDS NATIONAL GUARD AS VIOLENT ANTI-ICE RIOTS ERUPT IN LOS ANGELES

«Gavin Newsom seems to think that California can not only defy federal immigration law, but now federal tax law. The doctrine of nullification died with the Confederacy. What’s next: firing on Fort Ord?» Republican California Rep. Tom McClintock posted to X, referring to Newsom floating withholding federal taxes in response to reports of the Trump administration cutting funding to the state. 

Libs of TikTok, a popular conservative X account founded by an LA native, posted a series of messages pinning blame on local Democrats and providing updates on the violence. 

Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff and California native, responded to Bass on X after she defended illegal immigrants: «You have no say in this at all. Federal law is supreme and federal law will be enforced.»

When asked about California Republicans’ comments and the riots overall on Sunday morning, Newsom’s communications director Izzy Gardon told Fox Digital: «LA riots? Have these geniuses ever seen what happens when the Eagles win a playoff game?»

Videos circulated on social media Friday night and Saturday showing people looting LA shops and setting fires, as well as lobbing rocks and other items at immigration officials. U.S. Border Patrol Chief Michael W. Banks shared a photo of a Border Patrol agent’s bloody hand that was injured by a rock flying through the windshield.

NATIONAL GUARD TO BE DEPLOYED IN LOS ANGELES COUNTY AS ANTI-ICE PROTESTS RAGE: BORDER CZAR TOM HOMAN

Trump signed a presidential memorandum on Saturday to deploy 2,000 National Guardsmen to Paramount, California, to help quell the violence, and has also slammed the local leaders for the chaos. 

President Donald Trump in the Oval Office. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

«If Governor Gavin Newscum, of California, and Mayor Karen Bass, of Los Angeles, can’t do their jobs, which everyone knows they can’t, then the Federal Government will step in and solve the problem, RIOTS & LOOTERS, the way it should be solved!!!» Trump posted to Truth Social on Saturday evening. 

ICE acting Director Todd Lyons described what took place in Los Angeles on Friday as «appalling.»

«As rioters attacked federal ICE and law enforcement officers on the LA streets, Mayor Bass took the side of chaos and lawlessness over law enforcement,» Lyons wrote in a statement on Saturday. «These violent rioters will be held accountable if they harm federal officers, and make no mistake, ICE will continue to enforce our nation’s immigration laws and arrest criminal illegal aliens.»

People block off the street and set a fire during protests against ICE and immigration raids on Saturday, June 7, 2025, in Paramount, California. (Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

FBI Director Kash Patel vowed that any individual found attacking an immigration official will face jail. 

«If you assault a law enforcement officer, you’re going to jail – period,» Patel said on Saturday, Fox Digital previously reported. 

«It doesn’t matter where you came from, how you got here, or what cause you claim to represent,» Patel added in comment to Fox News Digital on Saturday. «If local jurisdictions won’t stand behind the men and women who wear the badge, the FBI will.»

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Fox News Digital’s Alexandra Koch and Landon Mion contributed to this report.