Newsom feuds with Trump as LA burns.

Gavin Newsom’s Evolving Relationship with Donald Trump

Gavin Newsom, California’s Democratic governor, appeared briefly to put his long-running feud with Donald Trump to one side on Friday, when he invited the president-elect to Los Angeles to survey devastation from the wildfires and meet with first responders, firefighters, and the “Americans” affected.

“In the spirit of this great country, we must not politicize human tragedy or spread disinformation from the sidelines,” Newsom wrote in a letter to Trump on Friday. “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.”

The détente lasted less than 24 hours. By Saturday, Newsom, who is in contention to become the Democratic party leader in time for 2028, had returned to a more familiar, oppositional stance.

In an interview with Pod Save America, he rejected Trump’s claim that water is being withheld from southern California to save an endangered fish, the delta smelt, calling the president-elect’s messaging on the issue “delusional” and part of a “consistent mantra from Trump going back years and years, and it’s reinforced over and over within the right-wing… and it’s profoundly ignorant.”

Mounting Tensions and Political Agendas

Newsom said Californians’ fears that Trump could try to withhold federal relief funds were reasonable, notwithstanding the governor’s outreach a day earlier; Newsom said Saturday evening Trump had yet to return his call about wildfire response.

“He’s done it in the past, not just here in California,” Newsom told the podcasters, pointing to Trump’s prior actions in Puerto Rico, Utah, Connecticut, and Georgia. “The rhetoric is very familiar, it’s increasingly acute, and obviously we all have reason to be concerned about it.”

The politicization of the Los Angeles fires could be showing signs of intensifying. To opposing political factions, the ruin of parts of Los Angeles offers an inviting but deadly tableau on which to lay out their contrary agendas.

To Democrats, the intensity with which the fires took hold, propelled by the late-season Santa Ana winds, is evidence of climate change that some Republicans deny as a political hoax. To some Republicans, including Trump, the fires are evidence of mismanagement under Democrats’ racial- and gender-equity drives.

Continuing Clash and Mutual Accusations

Even before the extent of the devastation became clear last week, Trump had assailed Newsom as “Newscum” and called on the governor to resign.

Addressing the governor on his Truth Social website, Trump said: “One of the best and most beautiful parts of the United States of America is burning down to the ground. It’s ashes, and Gavin Newscum should resign. This is all his fault!”

Trump blamed Newsom for refusing to sign a water-restoration declaration “that would have allowed millions of gallons of water, from excess rain and snowmelt from the North, to flow daily into many parts of California, including the areas that are currently burning in a virtually apocalyptic way”.

On the Republican sidelines, Warren Davidson, an Ohio representative, called on Friday for federal disaster relief to be withheld from California unless the state reforms its forestry management practices.

The Historical Context and Renewed Disputes

The feud between the two political leaders over environmental issues has been percolating since at least 2018 when wildfires devastated Malibu and Paradise, and Trump accused Newsom and Democratic state leaders of “gross mismanagement” of forests by failing to make firebreaks or clear flammable undergrowth.

That dispute was revived earlier last year when Trump appeared to confuse the former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown with the former governor Jerry Brown, saying he’d nearly crashed in a helicopter while assessing wildfire damage with (governor) Brown.

Future Prospects and Relief Efforts

Joe Biden has already approved a disaster declaration for the southern California fires, committing the federal government to covering all of the fire management and debris removal costs for six months.

“We are with you,” Biden pledged. “We are not going anywhere.”

Newsom thanked Biden – his fellow Democrat – for having “approved our major disaster declaration”. According to Politico, in his letter to Trump, Newsom wrote Biden’s action had been “a strong indication of the partnership California needs and appreciates with any federal administration”.

Further Escalation and Environmental Agendas

Late Friday, Trump announced on Truth Social that he had appointed Ed Russo – an environmental advocate – to an environmental advisory group.

Trump wrote in the post: “Together, we will achieve American Energy DOMINANCE, rebuild our Economy, and DRILL, BABY, DRILL.”

That comes as Newsom has moved in lock step with the California state legislature and the outgoing Biden administration to thwart Trump’s “America first” energy agenda before Trump’s inauguration in 10 days.

Ongoing Challenges and Political Standoffs

Newsom has said California’s legislative efforts are precautionary in nature, and he would approach the returning president with an “open hand, not a closed fist.”

But Trump made future disaster funds to California an issue during his 2024 campaign when, in September, he demanded Newsom reform water policy to divert more water to California’s farmers if he wanted the flow of federal funds to continue.

“If he doesn’t sign those papers, we won’t give him money to put out all his fires,” Trump said.