The trouble with Trump-proofing

Feb 04, 2025

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump walk with California Gov. Gavin Newsom after arriving on Air Force One at Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, Jan. 24, 2025.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom left behind a major piece of unfinished business as he jetted off to Washington to secure federal wildfire aid: two Donald Trump-proofing bills. | Mark Schiefelbein/AP

NEWSOM’S NUISANCE: Gov. Gavin Newsom left behind a major piece of unfinished business as he jetted off to Washington to secure federal wildfire aid: Donald Trump-proofing legislation that he once touted but has now become a political albatross.

Newsom called the special session that produced the package of two bills with $50 million in funding for litigation and immigration aid — money to fight legal battles with the Trump administration. The move late last year — coupled with a dearth of early resistance coming from other states — served as a loud opening volley in what many expected would be a series of high-profile showdowns between Trump and Newsom.

But that was before catastrophic fires tore through Los Angeles, scrambling the Democratic governor’s calculus and creating an urgent need for him to work with Trump on the recovery.

Now, Trump-proofing, which could have been done in the more understated budget process, has taken a backseat for Newsom, as Attorney General Rob Bonta makes it the centerpiece of his own portfolio.

Case in point: The governor hasn’t commented on the legislation since the Assembly approved it yesterday. And he is waiting to sign the bills until after returning from Washington — a contrast with other special session bills for wildfire aid, which Newsom signed in Los Angeles on the same day they passed. Newsom received the Trump-proofing bills late this morning.

"Our office requested an expedited transmittal from the Legislature yesterday,” said Izzy Gardon, a Newsom spokesperson, in a statement. “I expect the governor to take action on these measures this week once he returns to the state.”

The governor also publicly pushed back against the “Trump-proofing” phrase about a month before the fires hit LA., defending his push for $25 million in litigation funding.

“‘Trump proofing’ are not my words — they’re someone else's words,” Newsom told reporters at a Dec. 10 stop. “‘Resistance’ is your word, not my word. I'm just making sure we're prepared.”

Newsom aside, passing the Trump-proofing bills wasn’t exactly smooth sailing for lawmakers. Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas didn’t hold a vote on the bills until 10 days after the state Senate passed them — delaying action lawmakers planned to take last week. Some in Rivas’ Assembly — amid warnings from Republicans — sought reassurance that the state wouldn’t be funding legal protections for undocumented immigrants convicted of certain violent felony crimes.

The compromise called for the Democratic-controlled Legislature to attach a letter saying that wouldn't happen. Newsom now plans to echo the letter in his signing message, Bonta told Playbook today. Gardon did not have an immediate comment on Newsom’s plans.

When they did pass the bills yesterday, Rivas and several legislative Democrats were notably strident in their remarks about Trump, saying they don’t trust the president and that he’s “out of control.”

That language comes easier for lawmakers who don’t have to be the state’s chief negotiator with the president.

— with help from Dustin Gardiner

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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY

Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.).

California Rep. Linda Sánchez criticized President Donald Trump's tariffs, saying he's being a "bully" to allies Canada and Mexico. | Drew Angerer/Getty Images

SCALPEL MISSING: California Rep. Linda Sánchez, the ranking Democrat on the Ways and Means trade subcommittee, had some sharp words on Trump’s proposed tariffs during a POLITICO Playbook First 100 Days event focused on trade.

The president on Monday pulled back on his planned tariffs against Mexico and Canada, although levies against China went into effect today.

“Tariffs are meant to be a tool to level the playing field when somebody is not playing fair or they’re cheating on trade,” Sánchez told our Doug Palmer. “It’s like using a sledgehammer when you should be using a scalpel.”

Sánchez emphasized that Canada and Mexico are important allies and said the U.S. “can accomplish a lot more with diplomacy than trying to hit them over the head with a cudgel.”

“To threaten our allies and to try to bully them and get concessions that aren’t really concessions means that he has accomplished nothing, which fully underscores the fact that it’s performative, it’s theatrical,” Sánchez said. “He wants to seem like he’s doing something grand. In effect, it’s spooking the markets, it’s creating uncertainty … his trade policy is not doing very well.”

ON THE BEATS

The California Teachers Association today announced unions in 32 school districts, including Los Angeles, will coordinate contract negotiation demands. | Damian Dovarganes/AP

BANDING TOGETHER: The California Teachers Association announced today that local unions in some of the state’s largest school districts would coordinate demands as they begin negotiating their next contracts later this summer.

Unions in 32 districts, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose, San Diego, Oakland and Sacramento, will share priorities that include improving class sizes and better wages when their contracts expire at the end of June. Contracts usually end at different times, but local chapters were able to align dates for some of the state’s largest districts for this cycle. Together, the districts have over one million students and 77,000 teachers, with nearly $23 billion in revenue at stake.

The state’s largest teachers union hopes the move will increase its influence over negotiations. While unions in different districts can’t bargain together, CTA President David Goldberg said that the goal is to “build power across districts.” While each district is different, Goldberg said the union realized that the main priorities were broadly aligned.

“This is a multi-year project of these unions all coming to the understanding that they, frankly, were taking on a lot of the same issues that were not unique just to them,” Goldberg said. — Eric He

ALL CIRCUITS GO: California State University is on board with the governor’s agenda to infuse artificial intelligence into the state’s economy, and it’s not waiting for state lawmakers to hammer out regulations for the technology.

“We have to take responsibility as educators and as leaders in higher education to teach: ‘What does ethics mean?’” CSU Chancellor Mildred García told reporters in San Jose today. “We don't have to wait for the government to do that."

That declaration came minutes after García joined representatives from tech giants like Microsoft and OpenAI to announce what they described as an “unprecedented” partnership with Newsom’s office and AI firms to embed tools like ChatGPT in the university’s research, teaching and professional development programs.

CSU’s announcement highlights a growing rift on AI between the state’s executive and legislative branches. Newsom has inked agreements with private companies to implement AI in everything from housing to education. Meanwhile, he’s swatted down more ambitious attempts from the Legislature to regulate the technology, like state Sen. Scott Wiener’s SB 1047.

That doesn’t mean CSU wants lawmakers to check out, though. Ed Clark, chief information officer for the university system, said he wants to see lawmakers outline guidelines for AI that make transparent the data that companies use to power their AI models.

“The general public, when they use ChatGPT and other tools, they’re putting that into the common Internet, and those tools are being used to train those AI models,” he told Playbook today. “I think the general public deserves to know how data is being used and how it's being protected.”

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WHAT WE'RE READING TODAY

— When water from two dams was released by the Army Corps of Engineers at Trump’s orders, it recharged the groundwater in the San Joaquin River Valley. But farmers in the area rely on the water in those dams to irrigate their crops in the summer. (LA Times)

— A group representing Asian and white high school and college students filed a federal complaint against the University of California, saying multiple campuses use racial preference in admissions. (Wall Street Journal)

— New FEC filings show that California Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff both have over $6 million dollars on hand in their campaign accounts. (Sacramento Bee)

AROUND THE STATE

— The roughly 2,500 businesses that assist in border imports and exports in Otay Mesa are preparing for the worst, despite Trump’s tariff delay. (San Diego U-T)

— The Ivanpah solar plant in the Mojave Desert, once the world’s largest concentrating solar plant, is on the path to being closed. (E&E News)

— SEIU 1021 Oakland Chapter President Antoinette Blue is accusing the city of violating their union contract as well as civil service law, after Oakland sent out over 70 layoff notices this week. (The Oaklandside)

— compiled by Nicole Norman

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