The back and forth laid bare the strange relationship between Trump and Newsom, who have at times appeared friendly, like when the president traveled to L.A. during the fires there in January. But they both have also relished using the other person as a politically convenient foil to play to their respective bases.
“Look, I like Gavin Newsom — he’s a nice guy, but he’s grossly incompetent,” Trump said Sunday when asked about the incendiary idea of arresting a democratically elected governor. Trump went on to say that Newsom’s crime was “running for governor.”
There have been many twists and turns over the years between Newsom and Trump.
In Trump’s first term, Newsom stepped forward immediately as one of the president’s most vocal Democratic critics. But this year, Newsom has treaded more carefully. He has let other Democrats, namely California Attorney General Rob Bonta, take the lead on pushing back against Trump’s agenda. Some of that shift can be attributed to the devastating Los Angeles fires earlier this year and the state’s need for federal assistance.
But it’s also created some political problems for Newsom — and this showdown with Trump could shore up support for the governor among California Democrats, who have questioned the termed-out governor’s political intentions and policy agenda for his final 18 months in the Capitol.
Newsom’s proposal to close a projected $12 billion budget shortfall rested on cuts to Medicaid coverage for undocumented residents — an idea that garnered fierce pushback from immigrant advocacy groups. A podcast he launched this year, featuring interviews with far-right figures, angered many in his own party — especially after the governor made comments that many on the left saw as throwing transgender kids under the bus.
And voters seemed to question whether Newsom’s eyes were wandering toward the White House. A recent poll from the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies found 54% of California voters thought Newsom was focusing more on bolstering a future run for president than on governing the state. Even Democrats were split evenly on this question of the governor’s political compass.
California Republican strategist Tim Rosales said the chance to climb back in the ring with Trump provides a welcome respite for Newsom from tough governing choices that could further divide the governor from his base.
“Anything that he can do to kind of deflect attention from some of those things and pick a fight with President Trump is certainly beneficial for him,” Rosales said. “It puts Governor Newsom back on the national stage, which is, we all know, where he wants to be and I think where he has eyes toward for 2028.”
That sense — that Newsom is acting out of his own interests, with an eye on his political future — has long dogged the governor.
But some Democrats who have clashed with Newsom in the past said they were heartened by the governor’s shift in tone and message this week.
“He’s stepping up in this time. He’s stepping up for Californians, and it’s something I think we were hungry for,” said California Labor Federation president Lorena Gonzalez.
Gonzalez is a former state Assembly member who has undertaken public policy fights with Newsom in the past. But she praised his Tuesday speech for calling out the indiscriminate nature of Trump’s immigration raids — and said the integral role of undocumented immigrants in California necessitated a response from the state’s highest officeholder.
