President Trump is casting fresh doubt on California Gov. Gavin Newsoms presidential ambitions, warning that the Democrats record in Sacramento would be political baggage on the national stage.
According to Sean Hannity, President Trump said he is amazed Newsom is seriously considering a White House bid, given the condition of California under his leadership. Im amazed Gavin wants to run for office, Trump told The California Post on Friday during an Oval Office interview, conducted after his administration sued California over sanctuary policies, accused the state of fraud, and moved to claw back federal funding.
Trump, who owns a golf course in the state, argued that Californias glossy reputation masks a harsher reality for ordinary residents living under progressive governance. People love the dream of California, but they hate whats happening to them, Trump said.
The President insisted the state is crying out for a change in direction, saying California needs proper leadership that it is not getting from its current governor. Gavins incompetent, he said, framing Newsoms tenure as a cautionary tale of what happens when left-wing ideology overrides basic management.
Newsom, meanwhile, has been trying to elevate his national profile by mimicking Trumps own hard-hitting social media style, a strategy that has endeared him to the Democratic base. He currently leads early polling for the 2028 Democratic presidential primary, with RealClearPolitics averages showing him at 24% support among Democrats, ahead of former Vice President Kamala Harris (21%), former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg (11%) and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (8%).
Trump predicted that Newsom would not be able to outrun his California record, particularly the states notorious high-speed rail project, which has become a symbol of big-government excess and mismanagement. He has the train, the train to nowhere, that was supposed to be a simple train that went from San Francisco to Los Angeles, Trump said. Its the greatest cost run over that Ive ever seen.
Highlighting what conservatives see as the superiority of private-sector efficiency over bureaucratic sprawl, Trump argued he could have delivered the project quickly and competently. I could have built that thing, and I could have built that thing in one year, Trump added.
The rail project, now estimated to cost $135 billion, stands as the most expensive train project in U.S. history and a case study in the pitfalls of expansive government spending. Newsom, however, has tried to rebrand the effort as a success-in-progress, touting it as back on track in his State of the State speech earlier this month.
Speaking of tracks, were finally laying them, Newsom said, citing more than 60 miles of guideway poured in the Central Valley, land acquisitions, and environmental clearance for most of the route. Yet the project, originally scheduled for completion in 2020, now aims for a 2030 target that would cover only a partial Central Valley segment between Bakersfield and Merced, far from the states major coastal population centers.
Years of shifting federal commitments have left the project lurching from one funding crisis to another, with billions in federal dollars pulled, restored, and pulled again. As a result, California taxpayers are increasingly on the hook to keep construction alive, raising the question of how Newsom will defend this record if he steps onto a national debate stage promising to export Californias model to the rest of the country.
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