Mayor of LA to America: "Beware!"

"Trump has made Los Angeles a testing ground for military intervention on our streets. Mayor Karen Bass says her city has become an example for how to fight back. This article is part of a special January 2026 issue, with the headline "Mayor of LA to America: 'Beware!'"Nation package devoted to LA's bold stand against the Trump administration's assaults on the city."

"In 2008, she became the first Black woman to head the Assembly-or, indeed, the legislature of any state. But no sooner had she taken up the gavel than she was thrown into a budget standoff with then-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, as the nation's worst recession in decades threatened California, the world's fourth-largest economy. Bass went on to represent her congressional district in Los Angeles, often winning with more than 85 percent of the vote,"

Trump has made Los Angeles a testing ground for military intervention on city streets, and Mayor Karen Bass says the city is an example of how to fight back. Calamity has followed Bass since the California State Assembly, where in 2008 she became the first Black woman to lead a state legislature and immediately faced a budget standoff with Governor Schwarzenegger during a deep recession. She won a Los Angeles congressional seat with over 85 percent of the vote, chaired the Congressional Black Caucus as COVID struck, and returned in 2022 to defeat Rick Caruso for mayor. January 2025 wildfires prompted a recall that threatened her homelessness state-of-emergency agenda but failed. She continues on-the-ground visits through Skid Row, local cafés, and community events.

Read at The Nation