“After that, I will be the greatest president that California has ever seen.” The demand further politicized a fragile situation that has left Gov.
For days after Trump announced his intent to travel to Los Angeles to survey fire damage, it was unclear whether Newsom would join him, given that the president failed to invite him.
Yet by the time he arrived in California, Trump seemed to have found his West Coast chill.
“It would be a delicate balance under any president and certainly, it’s more delicate under this president,” he told CalMatters.
He largely kept a low profile leading up to the president’s visit, working on fire response from Los Angeles.
President Donald Trump has called the governor of California “Newscum,” disseminated false information regarding the causes of the fires in Los Angeles, and implied that California will not receive the usual federal assistance for recovery unless it alters its water policy. or its policy regarding forests. or its policy of immigration sanctuary.
He added voter ID as he got ready to take off for the fire zone this morning.
Trump told reporters on the tarmac during a stop in North Carolina, “I just want voter ID as a start, and I want the water to be released.”. “I’ll be the best president California has ever had after that. “”.
The demand further politicized an already precarious situation, leaving Gov. In order to obtain billions of dollars from the federal government to assist Los Angeles in fighting an ongoing firestorm and rebuilding, Gavin Newsom is rushing to comply with the president’s whims or even to speak with him at all. It was unclear for days after Trump declared his intention to visit Los Angeles to assess the damage caused by the fire, since the president did not extend an invitation to Newsom.
However, Trump appeared to have settled into his West Coast ways by the time he reached California. It is true that Newsom was waiting for the president on the tarmac at LAX this afternoon. Trump gave him a warm greeting, shaking his hand, hugging him, and patting his arm repeatedly while promising to “take care of things.”. “”.
“We’re going to fix it,” Trump told reporters, adding that it would be fixed permanently to prevent it from happening again. “It’s like it got hit by a bomb,” he said, expressing his amazement at the extent of the damage and drawing comparisons to the devastation caused by World War II. “.”.
Before dismissing a query regarding Trump’s demand for voter ID, Newsom stated, “We’re going to need a lot of federal help.”. “I am completely confident that we will resolve that. “.”.
The whiplash illustrates Newsom’s difficult balancing act as he attempts to support his state while also caving in to a president for whom California has been the ultimate political obstacle.
Longtime political rivals who nevertheless frequently collaborated on disaster relief during Trump’s first term, tension between the recently reinstalled Republican president and California’s Democratic governor erupted alongside the fires that have raged through Pacific Palisades, Altadena, and other parts of the Los Angeles region over the past two weeks.
As partisan demands to punish California for allegedly mishandling the disaster surged, the governor promptly invited Trump to visit Los Angeles in an attempt to defuse the situation. However, less than a day before his anticipated touchdown in California, Newsom admitted late Thursday afternoon that he had yet to receive a response from the president.
Newsom met with Trump during his visits to California fire zones in 2018 and 2020, so his exclusion would have been a sharp jab at the governor.
In an interview with reporters on Thursday, however, Newsom maintained an outwardly positive attitude regarding the strength of their relationship after authorizing $2.05 billion in fire recovery funds, which he hopes the federal government will eventually reimburse.
“I’m happy that he’s visiting us. The president’s time is much appreciated,” Newsom remarked. Additionally, I hope he arrives with a collaborative and cooperative mindset. His spirit is one that we embrace. “”.
According to the state senator, it is typical for presidents and governors from different political parties to clash over policy issues before uniting during natural disasters. Santa Monica Democrat Ben Allen, whose district has suffered greatly as a result of the Palisades fire.
“Under any president, it would be a delicate balance, but under this president, it’s definitely more delicate,” he told CalMatters. Even though it might seem a little disorganized, it’s a crucial component of our federal system. “”.
Rather than reject the state’s two Democratic U.S. S. . senators Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla, whom he nicknamed “Shifty Schiff,” for looking into him during his first term.
“The president accepted our invitation to visit this state and asked us to accompany him to these fire areas,” Schiff stated in an MSNBC interview this morning. Unfortunately, Senator Padilla and I are unable to attend because we have Senate votes today. I’m happy he’s leaving, though. “”.
Newsom and the president are at a vulnerable point in their relationship. Even though he called for a special session to finance legal action against the incoming administration and put California at the vanguard of a renewed resistance after Trump was elected to a second term in November, Newsom now finds himself reliant on the cooperation of a federal government that is virtually entirely controlled by Trump.
The timing of federal assistance is uncertain. Trump has lied repeatedly since the fires in Los Angeles started more than two weeks ago, saying that the city didn’t have enough water to fight the fires because Northern California doesn’t send enough water south. Despite fire and climate experts’ repeated claims that the fires were caused by extreme dry conditions combined with fierce Santa Ana winds, he has blamed them on Newsom and even called for his resignation.
Despite this, the president has threatened to withhold or condition disaster aid, a threat that has garnered the support of many Republicans in Congress.
At least since 2016, when he started claiming without proof that he lost the deep blue state of California because non-citizens cast ballots in the presidential election, Trump has been interested in voter ID. Voters cannot be required to show identification in order to cast their ballots in an election, according to a new California law that went into effect this year.
California requires voters to show identification when registering to vote, according to a social media post by Newsom’s press office, which also stated, “It is wrong to condition aid for American citizens.”. “.”.
Throughout the past few weeks, Newsom has significantly—though not totally—retracted his attacks on Trump. He worked on fire response from Los Angeles and mostly maintained a low profile before the president’s visit. Newsom released a tactful statement emphasizing “finding common ground and striving toward shared goals” with the Trump administration after the president mistakenly lamented in his inauguration speech on Monday that the fires were burning “without even a token of defense.”.
“This moment highlights the critical need for partnership, a shared commitment to facts, and mutual respect in the face of one of the worst natural disasters in America’s history,” Newsom stated.
On social media, he also attacked a number of Trump’s early executive orders on immigration and climate change. He then sent supporters an email calling the Trump inaugural speech passage “nonsense” and “insulting” to firefighters.
In the meantime, Democrats in the state Senate voted Thursday to advance $25 million for legal fees as part of the governor’s special session to “protect California values” from the Trump cabinet. Republican lawmakers have criticized the meeting, calling it an unwarranted jab at the president and a diversion from responding to wildfires.
California politicians would be betraying their constituents if they didn’t fight back, according to Santa Monica senator Allen, who acknowledged that Trump is keeping his campaign pledges to the Americans who voted for him. This is because voters elected them with a different idea of how to govern the nation.
“Our constituents want us to work with the federal government to help in areas where we both agree and where we need help,” he stated. On the other hand, we also belong to the devoted opposition. “”.
Newsom told reporters Thursday that since Trump “already assaulted the Fourteenth Amendment” with his day one executive order challenging birthright citizenship, which California immediately sued to stop, it is crucial for the state to get ready to fight him at the same time that he is vying for the president’s assistance.
During the COVID pandemic, when he spoke with Trump almost weekly, the governor recalled their “great relationship.” He said he did not expect the special session to have an impact on that relationship because it was “nothing personal,” but rather based on “fundamental policy disagreements.”. “.”.