SACRAMENTO — California Gov. Gavin Newsom and President Trump shared a surprisingly symbiotic relationship during the Republican’s first term in the White House, with their ability to spar in public and work together in times of crisis enhancing both politicians.
Whether the two men can overcome the ugly 2024 election cycle and resume a respectful relationship for the benefit of Californians will likely be determined as early as Friday, when President Trump surveys wildfire damage in Los Angeles County. It should become clear.
The trip is an opportunity for the president to show that he can rise above petty partisanship and name-calling in times of disaster to provide aid to Americans in need, regardless of who he voted for in November.
The stakes are high for Newsom, who finds himself in a precarious position as the state burns.
The governor could end the day with an example of a president acting like a level-headed leader who can put politics and personal feelings aside to help the state. Or he could walk away more vulnerable to criticism that Mr. Newsom’s political gamesmanship and thirst for national attention have undermined his ability to serve Californians.
“This week’s discussion will show whether Donald Trump and Gavin Newsom treat each other as the president of the United States and the governor of California, or as two people with diametrically opposed ideologies who have continually sparred,” Thad said. We’ll find out when we visit,” he said. Mr. Kousser is a professor of political science at the University of California, San Diego.
President Trump said over the weekend that he planned to visit Southern California on Friday, but did not provide details of the trip.
Regardless of when the president visits, Kousser said the disaster provides an easy “political script” for leaders of both countries to pull off a victory.
History shows that they have acted as politicians in times of crisis, temporarily halting jousting on social media and in court.
During President Trump’s first term, the governor often praised him for answering calls and doing everything he asked to help California, especially during the coronavirus pandemic. Mr. Newsom still maintains that his relationship with Mr. Trump was as good as any other governor during his early term.
At the same time, their fights over the environment, immigration, and other areas where liberal and right-wing politics collide have given Newsom an opportunity to define himself as a warrior for Democratic Party values to a national audience. Ta. Mr. Newsom and Mr. California similarly gave President Trump an opportunity to highlight the folly of the Democratic administration and project himself as a more enlightened alternative.
Bob Saladay, the governor’s chief communications adviser, said it’s a more complex relationship than “a simple friend or foe.”
“If history repeats itself, as it often does, the governor and President Trump could easily forge a similar relationship to the one they began six years ago,” Saladay said. “That means we will protect California by fighting misinformation and, of course, defending our values in court, while working together to tackle important issues, as we have done during the pandemic.” You can do both.”
This time, however, the relationship between the two leaders appears to be more complicated.
Even after the president lost reelection in 2020, Newsom continued to run against Trumpism, defeating a recall effort the following year and successfully winning reelection in 2022. The governor toured the country supporting the former president during the 2024 presidential election. Biden and then-Vice President Kamala Harris have a growing list of supporters across the country.
After the November election, Newsom said he did not respond to President Trump’s attempts to congratulate him on defeating Harris.
Two days after the election, the governor announced a special session to increase funding for the state Department of Justice to fight the incoming administration in court, reigniting the California vs. Trump picture. President Trump responded by accusing Newsom of “insane policy decisions” that are forcing people to leave the state.
Rob Stutzman, a Republican political consultant, said it was a miscalculation to lean so quickly into a “resistance” narrative after an election in which voters denounced progressive Democrats.
“He ran consecutive quads like everyone was behind him and no one was behind him,” Stutzman said. “I have no qualms about taking the lead this time.”
While other prominent Democrats appear to be retreating from the national culture wars, Newsom has been slow to relinquish his high-profile role on the front lines. He also refuses to follow the path of corporate leaders or bow down to President Trump.
While Newsom talked about affordability in the weeks after the election, he tried to weaken his message by trading his aggressive stance for a narrative of defending the state’s values. But the change hasn’t shielded him or his fellow California Democrats from criticism.
Democratic lawmakers plan to begin special Congressional hearings on increasing legal funding that Newsom requested to fight Trump as fires hit Los Angeles County, a crisis for Republicans It has become a powerful means of questioning priorities.
The bill was delayed after initially arguing that a special session was needed to ensure that lawmakers approved additional legal funding to fight President Trump before Inauguration Day this week.
Instead, Newsom expanded the special session to include another bill that would provide $2.5 billion in wildfire recovery aid to affected areas.
Now that the president is blaming Trump for the wildfires, it’s difficult to refrain from any kind of fight with Trump.
President Trump has repeatedly blamed Newsom for running out of fire hydrants during the Palisades fire. Experts have debunked his claims about Southern California’s water shortages, but that hasn’t stopped them from being repeated thousands of times.
Newsom launched the website as part of a campaign to correct misinformation about the fires shared by Trump and others. The site refutes Fox News’ claims that California cut firefighting budgets during his tenure as governor and denies allegations in social media posts about the state’s mismanagement of forest land.
The governor’s attack on misinformation, which Mr. Newsom highlighted in a national TV appearance, prompted a familiar cast of California Republicans to again try to remove him after more than half a dozen previous attempts failed. The incident occurred as the company announced that it was beginning efforts to do so.
‘Never Trump’ Mike Madrid, a Republican political consultant, said Trump’s claims and the deluge of misinformation that spread on Elon Musk’s X platform after the fire broke out since the president’s first term. He said it’s becoming harder to confuse.
Mr. Trump’s infrastructure for sharing his message is stronger than Mr. Newsom’s, especially as facts are drowned out on social media. Madrid said Facebook’s announcement that it would not censor or try to counter misinformation in posts would also put Newsom at a disadvantage.
“The reason this is so harmful and destructive is not just the right-wing trolls on Twitter, but the influx of misinformation that is doing damage and still reinforcing the narrative that California does not have a functioning government. Because we are there,” Madrid said.
Mr. Newsom’s political aides say the governor is setting an example for other Democrats on how best to push back against Mr. Trump’s misinformation in his second term. They disagree with the criticism of the special session and say President Trump would have targeted California regardless.
Mr. Newsom uses his personal account to refute various claims about his governance from both popular and lesser-known Republicans. His efforts to defeat misinformation have allowed him to take jabs at his focus, even though he has been in Los Angeles almost constantly since the fires broke out.
“Instead of making highly produced clapback videos with social media influencers, you should go to work helping Californians,” Louisiana House Speaker Mike Johnson said on TV’s “X.” . Start acting like that. ”
In his rebuttal, Newsom urged Johnson to “do the right thing” and help people in need instead of “playing partisan games.”
He made similar claims in his letter, imploring the president to visit the state and assess the wildfire damage.
“In the spirit of this great nation, we must not politicize human tragedy or spread disinformation from the sidelines,” Newsom wrote. “Hundreds of thousands of Americans who have been forced to flee their homes and feel uncertain about their future deserve to see all of us work to put their best interests first and ensure rapid recovery and rebuilding. there is.”
President Trump has not responded to the letter and has not invited the governor to visit Los Angeles.
Source link
