By MICHAEL R. BLOOD, Associated Press Political Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Calling President Donald Trump a threat to the American way of life, Gov. Gavin Newsom depicted the federal military intervention in Los Angeles as the onset of a much broader effort by Trump to overturn political and cultural norms at the heart of the nation’s democracy.

In a speech Tuesday evening, the potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidate said the arrival of National Guard and Marine troops in the city at Trump’s direction was not simply about quelling protests that followed a series of immigration raids by federal authorities. Instead, he said, it was part of a calculated “war” intended to upend the foundations of society and concentrate power in the White House.

“California may be first, but it clearly will not end here. Other states are next,” a somber Newsom warned, seated before the U.S. and California flags. “Democracy is next. Democracy is under assault before our eyes. This moment we have feared has arrived.”

As head of the heavily Democratic state known as the epicenter of the so-called Trump resistance, Newsom and the Republican president have long been adversaries. But the governor’s speech delivered in prime time argued that Trump was not just a threat to democracy, but was actively working to break down its guardrails that reach back to the nation’s founding.

″He’s declared a war. A war on culture, on history, on science, on knowledge itself,” Newsom said. “He’s delegitimizing news organizations, and he’s assaulting the First Amendment.”

Newsom added that Trump is attacking law firms and the judicial branch — “the foundations of an orderly and civil society.”

“It’s time for all of us to stand up,” Newsom said, urging any protests to be peaceful. “What Donald Trump wants most is your fealty, your silence, to be complicit in this moment. Do not give in to him.”

His speech came the same day that Newsom asked a court to put an emergency stop to the military helping federal immigration agents, with some guardsmen now standing in protective gauntlet around agents as they carried out arrests. The judge chose not to rule immediately, giving the Trump administration several days to continue those activities before a hearing Thursday.

Trump has activated more than 4,000 National Guard members and 700 Marines over the objections of city and state leaders, though the Marines have not yet been spotted in Los Angeles and Guard troops have had limited engagement with protesters. They were originally deployed to protect federal buildings.

Newsom’s speech capped several days of acidic exchanges between Trump and Newsom, that included the president appearing to endorse Newsom’s arrest if he interfered with federal immigration enforcement. “I think it’s great. Gavin likes the publicity, but I think it would be a great thing,” Trump told reporters.

Over the years, Trump has threatened to intercede in California’s long-running homeless crisis, vowed to withhold federal wildfire aid as political leverage in a dispute over water rights, called on police to shoot people robbing stores and warned residents that “your children are in danger” because of illegal immigration.

Trump relishes insulting the two-term governor and former San Francisco mayor — frequently referring to him as Gov. “New-scum” — and earlier this year faulted the governor for Southern California’s deadly wildfires.

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Trump has argued that the city was in danger of being overrun by violent protesters, while Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass have called the federal intervention an unneeded — and potentially dangerous — overreaction.

The demonstrations have been mostly concentrated in the city’s downtown hub. Demonstrations have spread to other cities in the state and nationwide, including Dallas and Austin, Texas, Chicago and New York City, where a thousand people rallied and multiple arrests were made.

Trump left open the possibility of invoking the Insurrection Act, which authorizes the president to deploy military forces inside the U.S. to suppress rebellion or domestic violence or to enforce the law in certain situations. It’s one of the most extreme emergency powers available to a U.S. president.

“If there’s an insurrection, I would certainly invoke it. We’ll see,” he said from the Oval Office.

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER and ANNE D’INNOCENZIO, Associated Press Writers

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. inflation picked up a bit last month as food costs rose, though overall inflation remained mostly tame.

Consumer prices increased 2.4% in May compared with a year ago, according to a Labor Department report released Wednesday. That is up from a 2.3% yearly increase in April. Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core prices rose 2.8% for the third straight month. Economists pay close attention to core prices because they generally provide a better sense of where inflation is headed.

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The figures suggest inflation remains stubbornly above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, which makes it less likely that the central bank will cut its key short-term interest rate. President Donald Trump has repeatedly urged the central bank to reduce borrowing costs.

There were scattered signs that Trump’s tariffs may have contributed to some price increases, but the cost of some imported goods, such as clothing, fell in May from the previous month and many services, such as airline fares and hotel rooms, also dropped in price.

On a monthly basis, overall prices ticked up just 0.1% from April to May, down from 0.2% previous month. Core prices also dropped to 0.1% from 0.2%.

Grocery prices rose 0.3% from April to May, and are up 2.2% in the past year. Fruits and vegetables, breakfast cereals, and frozen foods all rose in price. Egg costs fell 2.7%, their second straight drop though they are still more than 40% more expensive than a year ago.

Last week, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, which compiles the inflation data, said it is reducing the amount of data it collects for each inflation report. Economists have expressed concern about the cutback, and while it isn’t clear how sharp the reduction is, most analysts say it is likely to have a minor impact. Still, any reduction in data collection could make the figures more volatile.

Inflation has cooled in the past year and, excluding the impact of tariffs, economists say it would be on track to return to the Fed’s target, which would allow the central bank to cut its key interest rates. Yet core prices have been more stubborn and were stuck between 3.2% and 3.4% for nearly a year until February, when they started to decline. They have now been at 2.8% for three straight months.

Nearly all economists expect Trump’s duties will make many things more expensive in the second half of this year, including cars and groceries, though by how much is still uncertain. Trump said Wednesday the U.S. will place 55% tariffs on all imports from China, up from the previous level of 30%. He has also imposed a 10% baseline tariff on imported goods from every other country, and 50% import taxes on steel and aluminum.

Given the potential for higher prices in the coming months, Fed Chair Jerome Powell and other Fed officials have made clear they will keep their key rate unchanged until they have a better sense of how tariffs will affect the economy.

The International Woodturning Symposium, billed as the world’s largest gathering of woodturners, is spinning into St. Paul at the RiverCentre from Thursday, June 12 to Sunday, June 15 with a variety of free activities open to the public.

The annual event is organized by the American Association of Woodturners, which is based in St. Paul and operates the Gallery of Wood Art at Landmark Center, but the symposium is typically held in a different city each year: This is only the third time in the organization’s nearly 40-year history that the gathering has been held in St. Paul.

For those who are green to woodturning, the craft involves making items like bowls, pens and other decorative or functional objects on a lathe, a machine not unlike a pottery wheel that spins wood at high speeds while the woodturner uses carving tools to shape the item.

The symposium at RiverCentre, which officially begins Thursday, June 12 but most activities run Friday, June 13 to Sunday, June 15, is partially free to attend. Visitors can reserve a wristband online or pick one up at the registration desk at no cost to visit the vendor marketplace and a massive exhibition gallery of wood art from woodturners around the world. Saskatchewan woodturner Michael Hosulak will give a free artist talk at 12:30 p.m. on Friday, June 13 in the main gallery hall.

In the free zone, there’ll also be an interactive turning station, where expert woodturners will guide visitors — no matter their experience level — in creating their own wooden pen from a kit purchased on-site. This is open to the public with no pre-registration required.

Expert woodturners will also be giving demonstrations on various skills and techniques, but those are not included with the free wristband. Registration to access these more specialized workshops are $242 per day or $425 for the weekend and can be purchased online.

These demos will be presented by woodturners from Australia, France, elsewhere in the U.S. and several from Minnesota, including Jim Sannerud of Grand Marais, Phil Holton of Eagan and Jeff Luedloff of Shakopee.

The symposium, including the free trade show and gallery, is open 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. June 13, 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. June 14 and 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. June 15 at RiverCentre; 175 Kellogg Blvd. More info at aawsymposium.org.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that the United States will get magnets and rare earth minerals from China under a new trade deal and that tariffs on Chinese goods will rise to 55%.

In return, Trump said, the U.S. will provide China “what was agreed to,” including allowing Chinese students to attend American colleges and universities. The Republican president had recently begun to clamp down on the presence of Chinese nationals on U.S. college campuses.

The new 55% tariff rate would mark a meaningful increase from the 30% levy set in Switzerland during talks in May.

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“OUR DEAL WITH CHINA IS DONE, SUBJECT TO FINAL APPROVAL WITH PRESIDENT XI AND ME.,” Trump wrote Wednesday on his social media site.

He said full magnets and any necessary rare earths will be supplied up front by China.

“WE ARE GETTING A TOTAL OF 55% TARIFFS, CHINA IS GETTING 10%. RELATIONSHIP IS EXCELLENT!” Trump wrote.

Senior U.S. and Chinese negotiators announced late Tuesday in London that they had agreed on a framework to get their trade negotiations back on track after a series of disputes that threatened to derail them.

The announcement came at the end of two days of talks in the British capital that wrapped up late Tuesday.

It came as an international rights group said that several global brands are among dozens of companies at risk of using forced labor through their Chinese supply chains because they use critical minerals or buy minerals-based products sourced from the far-western Xinjiang region of China.

The report by the Netherlands-based Global Rights Compliance says companies including Avon, Walmart, Nescafe, Coca-Cola and paint supplier Sherwin-Williams may be linked to titanium sourced from Xinjiang, where rights groups allege the Chinese government runs coercive labor practices targeting predominantly Muslim Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities.

The report found 77 Chinese suppliers in the titanium, lithium, beryllium and magnesium industries operating in Xinjiang. It said the suppliers are at risk of participating in the Chinese government’s “labor transfer programs,” in which Uyghurs are forced to work in factories as part of a long-standing campaign of assimilation and mass detention.

Asked about the report, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said that “no one has ever been forcibly transferred in China’s Xinjiang under work programs.”

The named companies didn’t immediately comment on the report.