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 public sparring and ability to work together in times of crisis elevating both politicians.
Whether the two men can overcome an ugly 2024 election cycle and resume a respectful rapport for the benefit of Californians should become clearer when Trump surveys wildfire damage in Los Angeles County, possibly as soon as Friday.
The visit gives the president an opportunity to show that he can rise above petty partisanship and name-calling during a disaster to provide aid to Americans in need, regardless of whom they voted for in November.
The stakes are considerable for Newsom, who finds himself in a precarious position with his state on fire.
The governor could end the day with a presidential example of acting like a level-headed leader capable of putting politics — and personal feelings — aside to help his state. Or, Newsom could walk away more vulnerable to criticism that his political gamesmanship and thirst for the national spotlight compromised his ability to deliver for Californians.
“We’re going to learn with this week’s visit whether Donald Trump and Gavin Newsom will treat each other as the president of the United States and the governor of California, or two individuals with completely opposite ideologies who have been sparring continuously,” said Thad Kousser, a professor of political science at UC San Diego.
Trump said over the weekend that he was planning to visit Southern California on Friday, but has not released any details about his trip.
Regardless of when the president visits, Kousser said a disaster provides an easy “political script” for both leaders to notch a win.
History shows they’ve acted as statesmen in times of crisis before and temporarily paused their jousts on social media and in the courts.
During Trump’s first term, the governor often commended Trump for taking his calls and delivering everything he requested to support California, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Still today, Newsom asserts that his relationship with Trump was as good as any other governor’s during the initial term.
At the same time, their battles over the environment, immigration and other areas where their liberal and right-wing politics collided gave Newsom an opportunity to define himself as a fighter for Democratic values to a national audience. Newsom and California similarly gave Trump a chance to highlight the follies of Democratic rule and cast himself as a more sensible alternative.
Bob Salladay, the governor’s top communications advisor, said it’s a more complex relationship “than the simple friend or foe” narrative.
“If the past repeats itself as it often does, the governor and President Trump could easily have the same type of relationship that began six years ago,” Salladay said. “That is, we will protect California by fighting against misinformation and, yes, fighting in court to protect our values — while working cooperatively on important issues as we did during the pandemic. You can do both things.”
But the relationship between the two leaders also appears more complicated this time around.
After the president lost his reelection bid in 2020, Newsom continued to run against Trumpism in his successful effort to beat a recall campaign the following year and win reelection in 2022. The governor traveled the country during the 2024 presidential election cycle in support of former President Biden and then Vice President Kamala Harris, all the while growing his list of supporters across the nation.
Following the November election, Newsom has said Trump did not respond to his effort to congratulate him for defeating Harris.
Two days after the election, the governor reignited the California vs. Trump narrative when he announced a special session to increase funding for the state Department of Justice to fight the incoming administration in court. Trump responded by calling out Newsom’s “insane policy decisions” that he claimed were forcing people to leave his state.
Rob Stutzman, a Republican political consultant, said leaning back into the “resistance” narrative so quickly after an election where voters rebuked progressive Democrats was a miscalculation.
“He went streaking in the quad thinking everyone was behind him and no one was behind him,” Stutzman said. “There’s no resistance to lead this time around.”
At a time when other prominent Democrats seem to be backing away from the national culture wars, Newsom has been slower to relinquish his high-profile role on the front lines. He’s also refused to follow the path of corporate leaders and bend the knee to Trump.
Newsom tried to tone down his message, trading his offensive posture for a narrative about defending the state’s values, while he talked about affordability in the weeks after the election. But the change hasn’t protected him, or his fellow California Democrats, from criticism.
Democratic lawmakers were set to begin special session hearings over the increase in legal funding Newsom requested to fight Trump when the fires broke out in L.A. County, giving the GOP a potent avenue to question their priorities as Los Angeles burned.
Despite initially insisting the special session was imperative to ensure lawmakers approved the extra legal money to fight Trump before the inauguration this week, that bill has been delayed.
Instead, Newsom expanded the special session to include another bill to provide $2.5 billion in wildfire recovery support for affected communities.
Restraining himself from fighting every battle with Trump is a challenge at a time when the president is blaming him for the wildfires.
Trump has repeatedly alleged that Newsom is at fault for fire hydrants that ran dry in the Palisades fire. Experts have debunked his claims about a lack of water in Southern California, but that hasn’t stopped the allegations from being repeated thousands of times.
Newsom launched a website as part of a campaign to correct misinformation about the fire shared by Trump and others. The site refutes claims from Fox News that California cut its firefighting budget during the governor’s tenure and shoots down allegations in social media posts about the state mismanaging forest lands.
The governor’s assault on misinformation, which Newsom discussed in national television appearances, comes as a familiar cast of California Republicans say they’re mounting another effort to recall him after more than a half-dozen prior attempts failed.
Mike Madrid, a “never-Trump” Republican political consultant, said Trump’s claims and the deluge of misinformation that spread on Elon Musk’s X platform after the fires broke out has become harder to disrupt since the president’s first term.
Trump’s infrastructure to share his message is stronger than Newsom’s, particularly as facts get drowned out on social media. The announcement that Facebook will no longer censor or try to combat incorrect information in posts will also put Newsom at a disadvantage, Madrid said.
“The reason why that’s so damaging and so destructive is the misinformation comes and it’s hitting, not just with right-wing trolls on Twitter, and it’s still reinforcing the narrative that California is not a functional government,” Madrid said.
Newsom’s political aides say the governor is providing an example for other Democrats about the best way to push back on Trump’s misinformation in his second term. They disagree with criticism about his special session, arguing that Trump would have targeted California regardless.
Newsom, through his own personal account, has offered retorts to a whole host of claims about his governance from popular and little-known Republicans. Despite his near-constant presence in Los Angeles since the fires broke out, his effort to swat down misinformation has opened him up to jabs about his focus.
“Instead of making highly produced clap-back videos with social media influencers, you should get to work helping Californians,” House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana said on X. “You’re the leader of a state in crisis, and you should finally start acting like it.”
In his rebuttal, Newsom urged Johnson to “do the right thing” and help people in need instead of “playing partisan games.”
He made a similar case in his letter imploring the president to visit the state and survey the wildfire damage.
“In the spirit of this great country, we must not politicize human tragedy or spread disinformation from the sidelines,” Newsom wrote. “Hundreds of thousands of Americans — displaced from their homes and fearful for the future — deserve to see all of us working in their best interests to ensure a fast recovery and rebuild.”
Trump has not responded to the letter, or invited the governor to join him on his visit to Los Angeles.
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