California governor says Trump 'putting ego over responsibility' as military show shuts highway [View all]

Source: The Guardian

Sat 18 Oct 2025 22.34 EDT
First published on Sat 18 Oct 2025 14.54 EDT


The California governor, Gavin Newsom, has accused Donald Trump of “putting his ego over responsibility” over a military showcase that involved firing live artillery shells over a major highway in the state’s south. Newsom said safety concerns over the event forced state officials to close a portion of the busy Interstate 5 near the US Marine Camp Pendleton base on Saturday.

“The president is putting his ego over responsibility with this disregard for public safety,” the Democratic governor said in a statement. “Firing live rounds over a busy highway isn’t just wrong – it’s dangerous. Using our military to intimidate people you disagree with isn’t strength – it’s reckless, it’s disrespectful, and it’s beneath the office he holds.” In an earlier post on X, Newsom had condemned the event as an “absurd show of force” and “totally uncalled for”.

US Marine officials said there was nothing unsafe about the exercise at Camp Pendleton, where firing artillery is a routine occurrence, and that it was unnecessary to disrupt traffic on Interstate 5, which is the main highway along the Pacific coast between San Diego and Los Angeles.

The California Highway Patrol said in a statement the military event would involve “live ammunition being discharged by the federal government over the freeway” and made the call to temporarily close a portion of the freeway due to the safety risk and distractions to drivers.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/18/california-highway-closure-military-celebration