The Justice Department claims California's request to limit the federal response to violent riots in Los Angeles would "countermand" the president's lawful military directives.

Days of demonstrations against federal immigration raids in Los Angeles have fueled round-the-clock news coverage and a number of misleading social media posts, including unrelated videos being mislabeled or shared out of context.

The legal showdown between California Gov. Gavin Newsom and President Donald Trump takes center stage Thursday afternoon in a federal courtroom in San Francisco.

Protests surrounding immigration enforcement actions in the Los Angeles area and the Trump administration's response to them have cued up a public spat between President Trump and Gov. Newsom.

The National Guard has at times detained protesters in its deployment to Los Angeles, an official said Wednesday, as demonstrations against Immigration and Customs enforcement raids spread to other major cities.

The Justice Department called California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) attempt for a judge to limit President Trump’s National Guard deployment in Los Angeles a “crass political stunt endangering

Gov. Gavin Newsom asked the Trump administration on Sunday to rescind its move to deploy 2,000 California National Guardsmen to Los Angeles to subdue immigration protests, accusing the White House of illegally overriding his authority and intentionally inflaming tensions with protesters.

"Neither the National Guard nor the Marines are engaged in law enforcement," the DOJ's motion reads. "Rather, they are protecting law enforcement."

President Donald Trump has authorized the deployment of an additional 2,000 National Guard members to help respond to protests in Los Angeles over immigration raids.

Governor Gavin Newsom on Sunday formally requested the federal government to rescind the deployment of National Guard troops in the Los Angeles area amid protests.

4:47 p.m. EDT The Trump administration asked the judge to reject Newsom’s request and allow it to respond by Wednesday, calling Newsom’s attempt to block the deployment of federal troops “legally meritless” and saying it would jeopardize the safety of Homeland Security personnel and interfere with the government’s ability to carry out operations.