CNN —

Donald Trump is talking and acting like an authoritarian as he escalates a constitutional clash with California over his migration crackdown.

Much now depends on whether he’s simply talking tough or if he’s ready to take an already-tense nation across a fateful line in his zeal for strongman rule.

In a mind-boggling moment, on Monday, the president of the United States — the country seen as the world’s top steward of democracy for 80 years — endorsed the arrest of the Democratic governor of the nation’s most populous state.

“I think it would be a great thing,” Trump, the only convicted felon ever to serve as president, told reporters as he strode across the South Lawn of the White House.

Later, Trump deployed hundreds of active-duty Marines to Los Angeles and authorized

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