LA Mayor Karen Bass labels Donald Trump’s ICE sweeps of MacArthur Park a ‘political stunt’
Heavily armed officers deployed as part of Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown took over an LA park on foot, horseback and in armoured vehicles. Watch the video.
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Wild scenes have unfolded in Los Angeles with heavily armed federal law enforcement officers conducting immigrant sweeps at a local park, prompting Mayor Karen Bass to lash out.
Heavily armed officers with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection and the military units deployed by Donald Trump arrived at MacArthur Park in force on Monday (local time), with the agents seen carrying rifles and travelling across the grounds on foot, horseback and in armoured vehicles.
Mayor Bass, who was due to meet with California Gov. Gavin Newsom in the morning, showed up in the middle of the operation to yell at the agents to get out of the park, slamming the demonstration as a “political stunt,” The New York Post reported.
“They need to leave and they need to leave right now!” she yelled after getting off the phone with someone co-ordinating the officers.
“What I saw in the park today looked like a city under siege,” she told reporters following the confrontation.
“It’s outrageous and un-American to have armed vehicles in our American parks.”
Bass speculated the goal of the officers’ presences was to “spread fear”.
One Border Patrol official promised that federal agencies were not backing down.
“The federal government is not leaving LA. … The federal government does not work for Karen Bass. We’re going to be here until that mission is accomplished,” Border Patrol El Centro Sector Chief Gregory Bovino told FOX Los Angeles.
“Better get used to us now because this is going to be normal very soon,” he added.
Mayor Bass and members of the LA City Council said the sweep disrupted a children’s summer camp, with the children corralled into a nearby basement while waiting for the agents to leave.
The raid also pushed out members of the St. John’s Community Health Center who were conducting their daily check ups with homeless individuals at the park, officials added.
It remains unclear if anyone was arrested during the sweep, as activists had gone around the park to warn people to leave before the officers marched through, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The LA Police Department said it was unaware of the federal operation going on at MacArthur Park.
Los Angeles has become a hotbed for the Trump administration’s immigration policy, with the city seeing chaotic raids and protests unfold last month.
The Trump administration has since sued the city, claiming LA is obstructing immigration enforcement operations through its sanctuary city policies.
Mayor Bass said the city was mounting its own legal challenges against Trump over the raids and deployment of troops in LA.
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‘MAJOR THREAT TO OUR ECONOMY’: TRUMP DISHES OUT NEW TARIFFS
US President Donald Trump has sent a first batch of letters to up to 15 trading partners, warning that US levies on imports will snap back to elevated levels if foreign governments fail to reach agreements with Washington.
It is not known yet if Australia is one of those countries receiving a letter today.
Asked about Mr Trump’s letters, Mr Bessent said these would inform partners of the tariff rate their products face when trading with the United States, unless they want to “come back and try to negotiate.”
Mr Trump imposed a 10 per cent tariff on imports from almost all trading partners in early April, but some economies including the European Union were slated to have this rate increase further.
As markets plunged at the time, Mr Trump halted the steeper levies to allow for talks. That pause expires on Wednesday.
“We are going to have several announcements in the next 48 hours,” Mr Bessent told CNBC in an interview Monday.
“We’ve had a lot of people change their tune in terms of negotiations. So my mailbox was full last night with a lot of new offers, a lot of new proposals,” Mr Bessent said.
Mr Bessent told CNBC that he would “be meeting with my Chinese counterpart sometime in the next couple of weeks.”
The two sides have so far held high-level talks in Geneva and London. But Washington and Beijing’s pause on tit-for-tat tariffs is due to expire in mid-August.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Mr Trump would be signing an executive order delaying this week’s tariff deadline until August 1.
“They will take the letters seriously because they have taken the president seriously,” Ms Leavitt told reporters.
“That’s why the president’s phone, I can tell you, rings off the hook from world leaders all the time who are begging him to come to a deal.”
“I am pleased to announce that the UNITED STATES TARIFF Letters, and/or Deals, with various Countries from around the World, will be delivered starting 12:00 P.M. (Eastern), Monday, July 7th,” Mr Trump said on his Truth Social network.
SEVEN MORE LETTERS SENT BY TRUMP
President Trump has now notified a total of 14 nations about their new import tax rates – but has yet to send to Australia.
Mr Trump announced Tunisia will face a rate of 25 per cent, Bosnia and Herzegovina 30 per cent and Indonesia 32 per cent.
Both Serbia and Bangladesh will pay 35 per cent and Cambodia and Thailand will be subject to 36 per cent.
TRUMP HANDS OUT UP TO 40 PER CENT TARIFFS
Mr Trump has given out five more tariff letters with some nations to receive rates as high as 40 per cent.
Malaysia and Kazakhstan will be subject to 25 per cent tariffs, South Africa to 30 per cent and Myanmar and Laos will both be charged 40 per cent.
The US President said the rates were calculated with respect to the trade deficits the countries had with America.
President Trump sent almost identical letters to the above countries explaining his rationale.
“Our relationship has been, unfortunately, far from Reciprocal. Starting on August 1, 2025, we will charge Myanmar a Tariff of only 40% on any and all … products sent into the United States, separate from all Sectoral Tariffs,” the letters posted by President Trump on Truth Social reads.
“Goods transshipped to evade a higher Tariff will be subject to that higher Tariff. Please understand that the 40% number is far less than what is needed to eliminate the Trade Deficit disparity we have with your Country.
“As you are aware, there will be no Tariff if (your country), or companies within your Country, decide to build or manufacture product within the United States and, in fact, we will do everything possible to get approvals quickly, professionally, and routinely — In other words, in a matter of weeks.”
Mr Trump said if a nation attempted to impose a reciprocal tariff he would raise their base tariff by the same amount.
“If for any reason you decide to raise your Tariffs, then, whatever the number you choose to raise them by, will be added onto the 40% that we charge,” he wrote.
“Please understand that these Tariffs are necessary to correct the many years of (your country’s) Tariff, and Non Tariff, Policies and Trade Barriers, causing these unsustainable Trade Deficits against the United States.
“This Deficit is a major threat to our Economy and, indeed, our National Security!”
TRUMP SLAPS ALLIES JAPAN, S KOREA WITH 25 PER CENT TARIFFS
US President Donald Trump said Monday he was slapping 25 per cent tariffs on Japan and South Korea, in his first letters to trading partners ahead of a deadline to reach a deal with Washington.
Mr Trump said the tariffs would apply from August 1 because their trading relationships with Washington were “unfortunately, far from Reciprocal.”
Mr Trump warned the countries, both key US allies in East Asia, of an escalation if they responded to the new US tariffs.
But he also said he was ready to modify levies “downwards” if Japan and South Korea changed their trade policies.
Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba previously said that he “won’t easily compromise” in trade talks with Washington.
CHINA, BRICS NOT SEEKING ‘CONFRONTATION’ WITH TRUMP
China said on Monday that BRICS, the grouping that also includes Brazil, Russia and India, was not seeking “confrontation” after US President Donald Trump vowed to impose an extra 10 per cent tariff on countries aligning with the bloc.
“Regarding the imposition of tariffs, China has repeatedly stated its position that trade and tariff wars have no winners and protectionism offers no way forward,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said.
Mr Trump took to Truth Social to threaten a further 10 per cent tariff on countries aligning themselves with the emerging BRICS nations, accusing them of “anti-Americanism” after they slammed his tariffs at a summit on Sunday.
BRICS leaders of fast-growing economies meeting in Rio de Janeiro raised “serious concerns” that the “indiscriminate” import tariffs were illegal and risked hurting global trade.
President Trump lashed out at the group – which comprises 11 nations including Brazil, Russia, India and China – in response.
“Any Country aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies of BRICS, will be charged an ADDITIONAL 10% Tariff. There will be no exceptions to this policy,” Mr Trump wrote.
US, INDONESIA SIGN WHEAT DEAL
Indonesia’s flour mills association will sign a deal to import at least one million metric tons of US wheat annually for the next five years in a US$1.25 billion deal, it told AFP Monday, as Jakarta lays the groundwork to avoid the worst of Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Chief economic minister Airlangga Hartarto told AFP Jakarta would step up agriculture imports from the United States to avoid tougher levies Washington says will come into force on August 1 without a new agreement.
“We already have an agreement between US Wheat (Associates) and Aptindo (to buy) one million metric tons 2026 to 2030,” Indonesian Flour Mills Association head Franciscus Welirang said Monday, referring to the export market development organisation.
The deal, worth an estimated US$250 million per year, will be signed in Jakarta on Monday, he said.
“In the context of Indonesia’s tariff negotiation, we as private business together with American private business, US Wheat (Associates) agreed to make an agreement,” he said.
Indonesia, which counts the United States among its top trading partners, is facing an extra 32 per cent tariff on top of a base 10 per cent.
Airlangga, who said negotiations were ongoing with Washington, pledged that Jakarta would also step up its energy and merchandise imports to close the trade gap.
EU CHIEF, TRUMP HAD ‘GOOD EXCHANGE’ BY PHONE
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen and President Trump had a “good exchange” about trade as Brussels seeks a deal to avoid steep tariffs before a July 9 deadline, the European Commission said Monday.
The pair spoke by phone, commission spokesman Stefan De Keersmaecker told reporters.
The commission, which conducts trade policy for the 27-nation bloc, has been in negotiations with the United States for many months.
If no agreement is reached, the default US tariff on imports from the European Union is expected to double to 20 per cent or even higher – Mr Trump having at one point threatened 50 per cent.
De Keersmaecker said “work is ongoing” at all levels to strike a deal. Commission President von der Leyen was also in contact with EU leaders, he added.
Washington threw a curveball on Sunday when Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said US tariffs will kick in on August 1 if trading partners from Taiwan to the EU do not strike a deal.
– with AFP
Originally published as LA Mayor Karen Bass labels Donald Trump’s ICE sweeps of MacArthur Park a ‘political stunt’
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