Trump: 'If They Spit, We Will Hit'

During protests over the death of George Floyd in 2020, President Trump said, "When the looting starts, the shooting starts." On Monday, he had a new slogan in response to the Los Angeles protests: "If they spit, we will hit," he said, referring to protesters allegedly spitting at the National Guard troops he deployed to the city.

• "If they spit, we will hit," Trump said in a Truth Social post. "This is a statement from the President of the United States concerning the catastrophic Gavin Newscum inspired Riots going on in Los Angeles." Trump first brought up the allegation on Sunday, to which aide Steven Cheung added the threat in all caps.

• "The Insurrectionists have a tendency to spit in the face of the National Guardsmen/women, and others," Trump wrote Monday. "These Patriots are told to accept this, it's just the way life runs. But not in the Trump Administration. IF THEY SPIT, WE WILL HIT, and I promise you they will be hit harder than they have ever been hit before. Such disrespect will not be tolerated."
• California Gov. Gavin Newsom fired back with a post on X, sharing photos of troops sleeping on a crowded floor, ABC News. "You sent your troops here without fuel, food, water or a place to sleep," he wrote. "Here they are—being forced to sleep on the floor, piled on top of one another. If anyone is treating our troops disrespectfully, it is you."

(More Los Angeles protests stories.)