Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom of California traveled to Washington, D.C., on Wednesday to satisfy together with his nemesis, President Donald Trump, in an effort to safe further federal assist to assist his state’s restoration from a sequence of brutal wildfires in January.
Newsom’s press workplace referred to as the assembly “very productive” in its quest for “unconditional disaster aid for survivors.”
“Unconditional” assist is clearly Newsom’s workplace referring to Trump and his allies threatening—whereas the fires have been nonetheless raging—to withhold federal assist except congressional Democrats backed a measure to lift the restrict of cash the federal authorities can borrow.
Amid all of this, Trump has taken to calling the governor “Newscum,” in his trademark infantile method. However Newsom appears to be attempting to bypass private grievances to get what his state’s folks want: federal assist.
“Thank you President Trump for coming to our communities to see this first hand, and meeting with me today to continue our joint efforts to support people impacted,” Newsom stated in a press release after the assembly.
After assembly with Trump, Newsom visited Democratic and Republican lawmakers and members of his state’s congressional delegation.
The assertion additionally thanked Environmental Safety Company Administrator Lee Zeldin “for his agency’s swift action, including over 1,000 personnel on the ground focused on debris removal.”
January’s fires, which at the moment are 100% contained, have been a few of the most damaging in state historical past.
“As we approach one month since the devastating wildfires across Southern California, we continue to cut red tape to speed up recovery and clean up efforts as well as ensure rebuilding efforts are swift,” stated Newsom within the assertion. “We’re working across the aisle, as we always have, to ensure survivors have the resources and support they need.”
This wasn’t the primary time he put his state above the triviality of Trump’s video games. His capability to make political beef irrelevant when vital was evident in January, when, with out an invite from Trump, he stunned the president with a face-to-face assembly earlier than Trump toured the devastation.

Because the Democratic governor of the nation’s most populous state—and one in every of its bluest—Newsom has been unafraid to beat Trump at his personal sport. He has trolled Trump’s poisonous immigration politics and referred to as a particular legislative session after Trump’s election in November. Newsom has additionally referred to as out Trump’s inclination to play politics with catastrophe assist.
In the meantime, Trump was fixated on a false conspiracy concept that the army, on his order, went to California and “TURNED ON THE WATER,” with the state water division corrected, explaining, “The military did not enter California. The federal government restarted federal water pumps after they were offline for maintenance for three days. State water supplies in Southern California remain plentiful.”
As soon as Newsom secures the help that his state wants, eyes will probably be on him to see how his tone modifications within the lead-up to the 2028 presidential election, for which many odds-makers take into account him the Democratic front-runner.