Trump pushes back after Newsom’s ‘Trump proof’ California plan

Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta held a press conference following the Nov. 5 election results to “Trump proof” California.
California, a historically Democratic state, turned over 54 electoral votes to presidential candidate Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election. It wasn’t enough to clinch the presidency, however. The now-president-elect Donald J. Trump secured 312 electoral votes to Harris’s 226.
Newsom said the state’s top officials have been preparing for the incoming administration for months and are now publicly resisting a Trump administration.
“California will seek to work with the incoming president — but let there be no mistake, we intend to stand with states across our nation to defend our Constitution and uphold the rule of law,” Newsom said in a written statement.
State officials have also released a written proclamation underlining incoming policies that may be threatening to American citizens, making clear their intentions to protect the rights of Californians at all costs regardless of the Trump administration and the now-Republican-controlled Senate’s efforts to impose their political agenda.
The president-elect responded to California’s intended resistance via his Truth social media account a few days after the conference.
“Governor Gavin Newscum is trying to KILL our Nation’s beautiful California… stopping all of the GREAT things that can be done to ‘Make California Great Again.’”
Freedoms are under attack in California, according to the Newsom office, and the administration “won’t sit idle.” Newsom wants California Legislature to give Bonta an increased budget for legal actions after the January inauguration.
The track record of Trump’s first candidacy coupled with statements made on the campaign trail indicate that the consequences of his presidency for Californians may be significant and immediate, Golden State officials said in the special “Trump-proof” session on Nov. 6.
Such policies include:
According to the Newsom office, limiting access to medical abortion and pursuing a national abortion ban is a direct threat to American citizens’ constitutional rights.
The Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade two years ago, a right to abortion that was upheld for decades.
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Justice Clarence Thomas, appointed by the first President George Bush, Justice Samuel Alito, appointed by George W. Bush, and the three Trump appointees Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett were in favor of the abortion overturn.
The ruling resulted in the issue returning to state jurisdiction. Since then, abortion has been completely banned in 13 states and is legal with a gestational limit of 6-18 weeks in eight other states.
The Trump administration has repeatedly boasted the intention to undo clean vehicle policies that are critical to combating climate change, as well as dismantling other environmental protections for clean air and clean water, according to Newsom’s office.
The U.S. became the first country to withdraw from the international climate change response deal, the Paris Agreement, under Trump, showcasing his stance on critical environmental issues to the world.
Trump was quoted in July promising to “end the electric vehicle mandate on day one,” a conflicting maneuver to Newsom’s enacted plan to achieve 100% zero-emission vehicles by 2035.
California’s water projects, clean air proposals, and federal support for energy programs, including the recent passing of Proposition 4, which will provide $10 billion to finance clean water and energy, depend on cooperation with the new Trump administration.
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, was instated in 2012 by President Barack Obama and temporarily delayed the deportation of undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children.
DACA recipients can stay and work in the U.S. but must submit DACA renewal requests every two years.
The Trump administration rescinded the DACA program in September 2017 but was ordered to reinstate it by a federal judge in January 2018, prompting a government shutdown for nearly three days.
Democratic elected officials fear the same attempt to rescind the program will be on the agenda again during the second Trump administration as well.
President-elect Trump threatened to cut off disaster relief aid to California at a campaign rally in Coachella Valley this year. He told rally-goers that his jurisdiction won’t help in wildfire aid if “California’s leaders don’t make more water available to farmers and homeowners.”
He again threatened to withhold wildfire resource aid at a rally in Ranchos Palos Verdes in September, if Newsom doesn’t “sign those papers.”
Newsom responded to the threat via X.
“@realDonaldTrump just admitted he will block emergency disaster funds to settle political vendettas. Today it’s California’s wildfires. Tomorrow it could be hurricane funding for North Carolina or flooding assistance for homeowners in Pennsylvania. Donald Trump doesn’t care about America — he only cares about himself.”
Sources close to Trump said his team is considering withholding federal police grants from local law enforcement agencies that don’t engage in his intended deportation sweep, according to NBC News.
The Newsom administration fears that the president-elect will politicize other grant programs to take state and local governmental resources for federal purposes.
These issues have propelled Newsom to call upon the California State Assembly to gather on Dec. 2 to discuss additional funding for the California Department of Justice. This precautionary measure will allow California to pursue legal action against the Trump administration at the first interference with constitutional rights.
California has commandeered a sort of leadership position in opposing the Trump administration.
Newsom, governor since 2018, leveraged this position for the state by imposing over 120 lawsuits against the presidential regime from 2017-2020.
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Rep. Adam Schiff, who managed the first impeachment trial of the former president, has secured a seat in the U.S. Senate. Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi also led a successful campaign and won her reelection to Congress. California representatives are in a prominent position to confront Trump legislatively.
Other Democratic local leaders are similarly taking an offensive stance on the president-elect’s foreseeable policies, gearing up for potential legal battles.
San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu said on Nov. 7 that he was planning to “use every legal tool at our disposal to defend our city.” This won’t be the first time the Golden Gate city will take action to protect its residents from Trump’s jurisdiction.
San Francisco was the first city to sue the Trump administration in 2017 over its efforts to pressure police into assisting with federal immigration enforcement and further efforts to attack sanctuary cities. The case was eventually dismissed by the U.S. Supreme Court, a success for the city.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has also publicly reassured residents following the 2024 election results and the president-elect’s campaign promises to conduct mass deportations.
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“No matter where you were born, how you came to this country, how you worship or who you love, Los Angeles will stand with you,” she said in a written statement to her residents, more than a third of whom are foreign-born. “This is not a time for despair, this is a time for action. I’ve spoken with leaders across the city, the state and the country. We are ready.”
The Newsom administration has stated it has evidence ready to challenge the policies of the upcoming presidential administration in court, if needed.
McKenna Mobley is a Daily Press reporter and can be reached [email protected].