President Donald Trump said he “loves” California Gov. Gavin Newsom launching a Democrat White House bid, but his response to wildfires and other issues would “push him out of the race.”
The president blasted California’s high-speed rail project and swiped Newsom during a bilateral meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
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“The small train from San Francisco to Los Angeles is run by California Gov. Gavin New-Scum,” Trump said. “Have you heard of Gavin Newsom? He has that train. The worst cost overrun I’ve ever seen. It’s like it’s completely out of control.”
Trump said he “had always loved Gavin,” and “I’ve had a good relationship with him.”
President Donald Trump on the left will meet Canadian Prime Minister Mark Kearney at the White House Oval Office in Washington, DC on Tuesday, May 6, 2025 (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
“I got him a lot of water, you know, I refused to do it, so I sent people to open that water,” Trump said.
“These fires would have been issued very quickly,” Trump said.
Trump traveled to Southern California a few days after taking office in January, suffering damage from a devastating wildfire that destroyed thousands of acres and more than 10,000 buildings in the Los Angeles area.
After his visit, Trump issued an executive order calling on federal agencies to reject California regulations on endangered species, increasing water availability and was affected by a fire in the city of Los Angeles’ use of federal grants, and facilitated investigations into conducting investigations.
Trump also called on the Department of Home Affairs to immediately override California’s existing regulations, a domestic water management initiative, Central Valley Project, to “unreasonable burdensome efforts to maximize water delivery times.”
President Donald Trump, right, California Governor Gavin Newsom is walking to talk to reporters after arriving at Air Force 1 at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday, January 24, 2025.
Trump meets California residents, firefighters and law enforcement officials to see firsthand the damage from Lamfire
Trump went back to the high-speed rail project and said, “I’m watching a lot of stupid people build a lot of stupid things,” but this was “the worst cost overrun I’ve ever seen.”
The California High Speed Rail Project is designed to cart riders between San Francisco and Los Angeles within three hours. It cost $33 billion and was expected to end by 2020, but the project is packed with fundraising challenges, cost overruns and delays.
The project is reportedly currently expected to cost an estimated $100 billion to complete.
“This government is not going to pay,” Trump said. He told Transport Secretary Sean Duffy that the Trump administration “is not going to pay for that.” [it’s] “Budget 30 or more.”
“It was supposed to be a simple train,” Trump said.
Duffy began reviewing the transportation division in February to determine whether the California High Speed Railroad Agency “tracked the commitments it made to receive billions of dollars in federal funds.”
“If not, I have to consider whether the money is worthy of an infrastructure project elsewhere in the US,” Duffy said at a press conference in Los Angeles in February.
Looking forward to 2028, the president said he “loves” to see Newsom run for the president. Newsom is prohibited from seeking re-election as California governor in 2026 due to period restrictions.
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“But I don’t think he’s going to run because with that one project, that alone, that, and the fire and a lot of other things, he’s driven him out of the race,” Trump said.
Newsom is rumoured to be pondering its presidential bid for 2028, but has not promised to do so.
In a statement by The New York Times, Newsom said he would like to work with the Trump administration on a $7.5 billion federal tax credit program to strengthen the television and film production industry.
Center President Donald Trump arrives at Los Angeles International Airport on January 24, 2025, and will approach reporters to visit areas destroyed by the Parisades and the Eton wildfires, adjacent to the first Lady Melania Trump and California Governor Gavin Newsom. (Mandel nkan/AFP via Getty Images)
“California has built a film industry and is ready to bring more work home,” Newsom wrote on X on Monday. “We have proven that there is a strong national incentive, and now is the time for actual federal partnerships to turn American films into films again.”
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The White House said Monday that the administration was “exploring all options” to make Trump’s orders come true.
Trump first announced in the Truth Social Post on Sunday that he was quickly endorsing US trade representatives “to immediately begin the process of establishing 100% tariffs on all films that come to our country, which are produced abroad.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Brooksingman is a political correspondent and reporter for Fox News Digital, Fox News Channel and Fox Business.
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