Within the escalating battle between President Trump and Gavin Newsom, the California governor is attempting a brand new technique, one he hopes will set up himself as the one Democrat in a position to battle fireplace with fireplace.
Certainly, Newsom has taken a web page out of Trump’s personal playbook: bombastic threats and social media trolling.
In a collection of posts on X, Newsom mimicked Trump’s use of all-caps, randomly positioned citation marks, title calling, and concluding with “thanks for consideration to this matter” – a Trump signature as of late.
Furthermore, Newsom despatched the White Home a letter threatening that if Trump doesn’t inform Texas Republicans to halt their redistricting earlier than an 8-day deadline expired, California would merely redraw their very own maps in ways in which nullify any GOP beneficial properties.
In response to an interview he gave, Newsom calls this the “no regrets technique” however it may be described as his “White Home 2028” technique.
Newsom could be very doubtless eyeing a presidential run, and he clearly believes that one of the simplest ways to cement himself atop the Democratic ticket is to do what Democratic voters need greater than something: battle again.
Put one other means, as Newsom sees it, the quickest path to the Oval Workplace runs by way of sparring with the present occupant, who no Democrat – or Republican – has efficiently overwhelmed earlier than.
Newsom’s new technique is a marked reversal from how he dealt with the connection early in Trump’s second time period.
Following January’s devastating fires in Southern California Newsom was strolling a fantastic line vis-à-vis the brand new administration, resulting in him and Trump falling right into a “détente.”
That détente has now ended, with Newsom deciding that it was time to lace up his boxing gloves and take the battle to Trump.
Whether or not over immigration, deploying the Nationwide Guard and U.S. Marines to Los Angeles, or gerrymandering, Newsom’s most popular response to Trump’s overreach has been to burnish his credentials as a fighter.
To that finish, the lingering questions are, how will Trump reply to Newsom’s new techniques? And relatedly, what do each males have at stake on this battle?
For his half, Trump has remained uncharacteristically silent, selecting to disregard Newsom’s new line of assault to date.
However as at all times with the president, he might resolve sufficient is sufficient and get into the ring with the California governor.
The White Home might throttle federal funding for the upcoming World Cup and Olympic video games, and even gradual stroll fireplace restoration help.
Therein lies the query of what each have at stake.
For Trump, it seems little or no. He’s not eligible for re-election, and even when he had been, was not relying on California turning purple.
Additional, had been Trump to overreact or politicize a nationwide occasion just like the Olympics or World Cup, it could find yourself hurting Republicans’ 2028 nominee, notably if that’s somebody within the present administration, corresponding to Vice President Vance.
It ought to go with out saying that Newsom is the one with considerably extra at stake.
His presidential ambitions have been among the many worst stored secrets and techniques in politics for a few years, and he’s risking a substantial quantity of political capital each on the battle with Trump and to push by way of redistricting.
Notably, the stakes for Newsom had been raised considerably on Thursday.
If California voters rejected the redistricting proposal, it will be an incredible embarrassment for Newsom and a blow to his presidential hopes.
Now, polling suggests help is probably not as robust as beforehand imagined.
By an virtually 30-point margin, California voters help the present system of an unbiased panel figuring out the state’s district maps (64%) moderately than giving politicians the ability to take action (36%), based on a Politico-Citrin Heart-Risk Lab survey.
Even amongst “political influencers,” lower than 4-in-10 (39%) supported partisan redrawing of the maps, versus 61% who most popular the unbiased panel.
In that very same vein, Newsom’s picture amongst his occasion’s left-wing is at stake.
Progressives and far-left Democrats soured on Newsom all through late 2024 and early 2025 as a result of him internet hosting Republicans like Charlie Kirk on his podcast, in addition to Newsom’s criticism of transgender athletes in girls’s sports activities.
Being the face of an efficient – or not less than energetic – anti-Trump resistance could go a great distance in bringing the far-left, which is totally essential in a major, again into his camp forward of the primaries.
Equally, in an off-election 12 months, a public battle with Democrats’ nemesis permits Newsom to stay within the nationwide highlight and rub shoulders with donors and activists, whereas fellow Democratic senators, representatives, and governors are largely out of the information.
On the similar time, the downsides for Newsom are equally a lot greater, particularly if he’s seen as ignoring California to give attention to a nationwide election and his nationwide standing.
One California political insider near Newsom advised The Hill, “If that is seen as a ‘Newsom particular’ it fails…If it’s seen pretty much as good governance, it would win.”
In the end, whether or not or not Newsom’s “no regrets technique” pays off stays to be seen. There’s a substantial period of time between now and the Democratic primaries, and lots of issues might change.
Nonetheless, by preventing Trump’s fireplace together with his personal, Newsom is doing precisely what Democratic voters have been determined for. If he can sustain with the president – which nobody else has been in a position to do – it would doubtless go a really great distance in shoring up his front-runner standing.
Conversely, it’s solely attainable that voters see by way of Newsom’s newest stunt and he doesn’t see the political advantages he seems to be relying on.
Douglas Schoen is a longtime Democratic political marketing consultant.
Initially Revealed:
