TRUMP REVITALIZES A NEWSOM PRESIDENTIAL RUN

 

CALIFORNIA FOCUS
FOR RELEASE: TUESDAY, JULY 1, 2025, OR THEREAFTER

BY THOMAS D. ELIAS
“TRUMP REVITALIZES A NEWSOM PRESIDENTIAL RUN”

 

If President Trump wanted to set up Gov. Gavin Newsom for a strong 2028  run against fellow Democrats and then Trump's chosen Republican successor, he could scarcely have done better than in the last month.

 

First came the president's threat to withhold virtually all federal grant money from California, affecting everything from medical research to sewer building and more.

 

That spurred Newsom to one of his most creative and energetic responses in months, even though his idea of withholding California’s federal taxes won’t work. At least it allowed the governor to say no one can attack California without learning how important it is to the rest of America.

 

Days later, Trump made the possibly unconstitutional move of calling out the California National Guard over Newsom’s objection, supposedly to quell rioting over immigration and deportation raids in Southern California. Then he sent 700 U.S. Marines into Los Angeles, saying they would protect federal personnel and facilities from rioters. All along, local police said they had matters well in hand. But Trump insists he saved the city from “incinerating.”

 

Newsom followed with a national speech denouncing authoritarian behavior and government overreach. Said Newsom, “This brazen abuse of power...inflamed a combustible situation, putting at risk our people, our officers and the National Guard.”

 

Only after that did Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem inadvertently reveal the purely political thought behind Trump’s moves: After her agents tackled and handcuffed Democratic U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla when he tried to question her, she got off perhaps the key statement in a week of dramatic talk: “We are staying here to liberate the city from the socialist and burdensome government that this governor and this mayor have placed on this country and this city.”

 

Which means a president who pardoned hundreds of convicted January 6 insurrectionists now wants to dictate who Californians elect to lead them.

 

This is pure Trumpian overreach. It validated what Newsom said days earlier in his nationally broadcast speech: “This is about all of us,” he warned. “California may be first, but it clearly will not end here. Democracy is under assault before our eyes.”

 

If Newsom sought a campaign theme, Trump provided it. The governor can now say he stands for America remaining a free country, with no dictator.

 

That speech and other resistance was the reason many protesters at mid-June “No Kings” rallies around California carried signs saying “Resist Trump: Thank you Gov. Newsom.”

 

Trump had never stinted in his enmity for California. But now Newsom’s gloves are also off, and he is active in lawsuits galore against Trump and his tactics. That’s one reason Trump suggested, “I would not hesitate to arrest him.” Newsom dared him to, saying “Come and get me. He knows where I am.”

 

Trump also observed that Newsom loves the publicity all this gives him. That appears accurate.

 

How did Newsom win his newfound popularity as an anti-Trump champion? He first projected strength by refusing to take Trump’s bait and get himself arrested in the act of interfering with immigration officers.

 

“Don’t give him a spectacle,” Newsom urged. “Never use violence.”

 

Just as unique was his response to Trump’s unprecedented threat to cut off federal funds for California. Newsom essentially said “If you take our money, we may cut off yours.”

  

He could say that because California is by far the biggest taxpaying state in the Union, also the biggest “donor” state. This state in 2022, the last year for which full figures are available, paid more than $692 billion in federal taxes, $83.1 billion more than it got back in federal funds. That’s nearly three times the “donation” of the next biggest “donor” state.

 

What if California withheld its billions, as Newsom threatened, and raised the national debt almost $1 trillion? It won’t happen.

 

This would be almost impossible to pull off because typical federal tax payments go straight to the Internal Revenue Service, with no state involvement.

 

Keeping those payments from the IRS would need cooperation from millions of individual taxpayers, thousands of tax preparers and many, many corporate officials.

 

That would require a huge campaign, which will not occur. Still, reminding Trump how important California really is can’t be all bad.

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    Email Thomas Elias at tdelias@aol.com. His book, "The Burzynski Breakthrough, The Most Promising Cancer Treatment and the Government’s Campaign to Squelch It," is now available in a soft cover fourth edition. For more Elias columns, visit www.californiafocus.net