After voters shunned Kamala Harris and sent Donald Trump back to the White House, California Gov. Gavin Newsom immediately positioned himself as the leader of the opposition.
Newsom called a special legislative session, seeking money for lawsuits to “safeguard California values.”
“The freedoms we hold dear in California are under attack — and we won’t sit idle,” Newsom said in a statement. His office declared that “This is the first of several actions by the Newsom administration, in partnership with the Legislature, as the governor begins shoring up California’s defenses against an incoming federal administration that has threatened the state on multiple fronts.”
Trump responded with a post on his Truth Social website, saying, “Governor Gavin Newscum is trying to KILL our Nation’s beautiful California” and “stopping all of the GREAT things that can be done to ‘Make California Great Again.’”
Two months later, Newsom’s tune began to change as horrendous wildfires erupted in Los Angeles and it became evident that California would need many billions of dollars in federal aid.
Outgoing President Joe Biden promised help but Trump, visiting the state just four days after his inauguration, said aid could hinge on California changing some policies. Newsom wasn’t invited to greet Trump but showed up anyway to make nice with the man he had denounced so many times as evil incarnate.
He later signed bills to finance anti-Trump litigation and aid to immigrants while publicly praising Trump for considering a wildfire aid package.
Last Friday, Newsom dispatched a letter seeking $39.7 billion from Congress, saying, “We are eternally grateful and we are confident that if we work together, Los Angeles will continue to serve as a beacon to the world and securely place the city on solid ground in the coming years as it hosts the FIFA World Cup and the 2028 Olympics — and thrive for the century to come.”
Trump must be laughing about Newsom’s obviously insincere flattery and being able to make the governor jump through his hoops.
So what is Trump demanding in return for federal aid? On his way to California on Jan. 24, Trump stopped in North Carolina, where reporters asked that question.
“I want to see two things in Los Angeles: Voter ID, so that the people can have a chance to vote,” Trump replied, “and I want to see the water released, so that it can come down into Los Angeles and throughout the state.”
The first mirrors Trump’s oft-expressed but unproven allegation that blue states such as California tolerate voting by undocumented immigrants and other ineligible persons. The second continues his insistence that California is denying farmers the water they need for crops and Southern California the water it needs to fight fires.
The voter thing is silly and so is Trump’s fact-free obsession that availability of water was a factor in the Los Angeles fires. However, there is a genuine conflict between Newsom’s administration and San Joaquin farmers over how much water they can divert from rivers and how much is needed to protect fish and other wildlife.
Those aren’t the only potential conditions that Trump or Republicans in Congress may impose on federal aid.
As Newsom was delivering his request to Washington, Trump advisor Ric Grenell was telling a conservative political gathering that “there will be conditions” on aid, specifically mentioning reducing or eliminating the California Coastal Commission’s power over development in the coastal zone.
The situation is a high-stakes poker game between two egocentric politicians and a reminder that while Newsom often refers to California as a “nation-state” with global influence, it’s still very dependent on Washington when disaster strikes.
Dan Walters is a CalMatters columnist.
