By Dustin Gardiner
President-elect Donald Trump is lashing out at California Gov. Gavin Newsom after he called a special session of the Legislature to beef up the state’s legal defenses against the incoming president.
“Governor Gavin Newscum is trying to KILL our Nation’s beautiful California,” Trump said Friday in a post on Truth Social, using his derisive nickname for the governor. “He is using the term ‘Trump-Proof’ as a way of stopping all of the GREAT things that can be done to ‘Make California Great Again.’”
Trump’s post came a day after Newsom said state lawmakers would convene to take immediate legislative action to counter Trump’s expected attacks on abortion, electric vehicles, immigration and federal disaster aid.
California is one of several blue states that have announced preemptive moves to defend against Trump’s policies. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James have pledged to beef up coordination between their offices to “protect New Yorkers’ fundamental freedoms from any potential threats.” And state leaders in Illinois and Massachusetts have pledged to take action to protect undocumented immigrants, access to abortion and the rights of LGBTQ+ people.
But the Golden State has borne the brunt of Trump’s wrath. His rebuttal read like a greatest hits list of his gripes about California, hammering the state over its voting laws, water-conservation policies, vehicle-emissions standards, homelessness crisis and high cost of living.
“People are being forced to leave due to his, & other’s, INSANE POLICY DECISIONS,” Trump wrote.
Newsom and prominent Democrats in Sacramento have vowed the Golden State will once again lead the resistance to Trump’s policies — reviving its role from the first Trump era. During that time, state officials filed more than 120 lawsuits challenging the Republican administration’s actions and passed a sweeping law limiting local authorities’ cooperation with federal immigration officials.
“The freedoms we hold dear in California are under attack — and we won’t sit idle,” Newsom said Thursday, in a statement announcing the special session. The governor was a central surrogate for Vice President Kamala Harris and is considered a likely contender for president in 2028.
The special session will start in Sacramento on Dec. 2, when lawmakers were scheduled to return to the state Capitol to swear in new members and prepare for next year’s session.
