Who is Gavin Newsom? What to know about the California governor battling Trump
Show Caption
Hide Caption
Governor Gavin Newsom warns democracy is 'under assault'
In a recorded statement, California Governor Gavin Newsom accused the president of bypassing state authorities and inflaming protests.
Governor Gavin Newsom has been a leader in California for over two decades, widely viewed as a Democratic presidential candidate in 2028 and, as of late, clashing hard with Donald Trump.
Trump's orders to send the National Guard and Marines to quell protests over federal immigration raids, fueled demonstrations for a fifth day in Los Angeles, as California's governor warned that "democracy is under assault."
A video released by Newsom on June 10 features the former San Francisco mayor-turned-governor positioning himself as the leader of the Trump resistance. "This brazen abuse of power by a sitting president inflamed a combustible situation, putting our people, our officers and even our National Guard at risk. That's when the downward spiral began."
But who is Gavin Newsom? When did his political career begin? Here is what to know about the California governor:
Who is Gavin Newsom?
Gavin Christopher Newsome is the governor of California.
The American politician and businessman has been the state's governor since 2019.
Prior to that, he served as the state's 49th lieutenant governor from 2011 to 2019. He also served as the 42nd mayor of San Francisco from 2004-2011 and in 2005, volunteered for the city's ex-mayor Willie Brown's campaign in 1995.
In 1997, Brown appointed Newsom to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors seat vacated by Kevin Shelley. The following year, voters elected Newsom to a four-year term.
'I would': Trump says he'd arrest California Gov. Gavin Newsom
How old is Gavin Newsom?
Gavin Newsom was born in October 1967 making him age 57.
Where was Gavin Newsom born?
Gavin Newsom was born in San Francisco.
Is Gavin Newsom a Democrat?
Gavin Newsom is a member of the Democratic Party.
Is Gavin Newsom married?
Newsom is married to an American documentary filmmaker named Jennifer Lynn Siebel Newsom.
The pair married in July 2008 and share four children.
Although on different sides of the political spectrum, Gavin Newsom and the president have a personal history and, at times, have been friendly.
Newsom was previously married to Kimberly Guilfoyle, an American TV personality and prosecutor. They split in 2005, and in 2018, she began dating Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr. in 2018. The two got engaged in 2020 and went public in 2022.
'Do YOUR job': Gavin Newsom clashes with Tom Cotton, other GOP officials over LA protests
Gavin Newsom speech: What did the governor say?
In the video released this week, Newsom accused Trump of "taking a wrecking ball" to democracy in connection with deploying national aid to the state to quell the protests.
"This is about all of us, this is about you," Newsom said. "It clearly will not end here. Other states are next. Democracy is next. Democracy is under assault before our eyes. This moment we have feared has arrived."
'Tarred and feathered' Speaker Johnson says Newsom should be for defying Trump
Despite Newsom's strong stance against the president's action, the president claimed the move was needed to maintain order.
"If we didn't get involved, right now Los Angeles would be burning," Trump said at the White House on Tuesday, June 10.
Contributing: Zac Anderson
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X @nataliealund
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hill
23 minutes ago
- The Hill
Democrats see political gift in Trump's ‘big, beautiful bill'
Democrats say Republicans have given them a political gift with President Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill.' They say they can easily sell the bill to the public as a threat to working class voters, given its cuts to Medicaid and food stamps and significant tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy. 'This is a rare policy gift to Democrats in that it was perpetrated by Republicans, harms almost everybody, and it's actually relatively easy to talk about,' said Democratic strategist Christy Setzer. With that in mind, Democratic campaign operatives — with a big assist from liberal advocacy groups — have kicked off a messaging blitz that's likely to continue until Election Day. On Monday, the House Democrats' campaign arm launched its first national digital ad campaign of the year targeting 35 battleground Republicans who voted for Trump's bill despite reservations over Medicaid cuts. The House Democrats' top super PAC is finalizing another slate of ads — a six-figure mix of television and digital — that will launch in the coming weeks. And Unrig the Economy, an outside advocacy group, wasted no time complementing the effort. They've launched a seven-figure ad blitz targeting 12 vulnerable Republicans, with plans to spend an additional $10 million in the coming months. The ads highlight three of the most contentious provisions of the GOP bill: the cuts to health and nutrition programs, combined with a rollback of green-energy subsidies that's expected to spike utility costs across large parts of the country. 'Those are the three arguments that we see as the ones that hurt people the most, and the place that Republicans are most vulnerable to accountability,' a spokesperson for the group said Tuesday. The strategy is reminiscent of the Republican attacks on the Affordable Care Act, another wildly contentious bill that was broadly unpopular when Democrats passed it under President Obama in 2010. Months later, Republicans would pick up 63 House seats and flip control of the chamber — the same goal Democrats have set for next year's midterms. And the campaign extends far beyond Capitol Hill. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D), who says he is weighing a 2028 presidential bid, has already begun using the controversial legislation as a talking point as he looks toward next year's elections. 'Next year, I'll also be the head of the Democratic Governors Association, and especially in these rural states, where Republican governors have not spoken up whatsoever to stop this devastating bill, we're going to have strong candidates, we're going to win a lot of elections,' Beshear said in a CNN interview on Sunday. Republicans are also vowing to go on the offensive, highlighting the tax cuts as a windfall for workers and the immigration crackdown as a boon for public safety. If anyone should be on the defensive, they say, it's Democrats for opposing the legislation. 'National Democrats' desperate and disgusting fear-mongering tactics are nothing more than a lame attempt to distract voters from the fact that they just voted to raise taxes, kill jobs, gut national security, and allow wide open borders,' Mike Marinella, a spokesman for the House Republicans' campaign arm, said Tuesday. 'We will use every tool to show voters that the provisions in this bill are widely popular and that Republicans stood with them while House Democrats sold them out.' But some Republicans have already handed Democrats easy soundbites to put in their ads in the lead-up to 2026 midterms. 'What do I tell 663,000 people in two years or three years when President Trump breaks his promise by pushing them off of Medicaid because the funding isn't there anymore?' Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), one of the three GOP senators to oppose the bill, said last week on the chamber floor. The criticisms were not overlooked by Democrats, who see Tillis as an asset to their messaging efforts. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) cited Tillis in arguing against the bill last week, and Tillis himself warned his colleagues about an Obamacare-style backlash to the bill. 'When you have even Republicans saying it on the record, it kind of rebuts any argument that the NRCC's gonna try to make,' said a Democratic operative. 'I think you will definitely see Thom Tillis in campaign ads — or his words, at minimum.' On the heels of the bill's passage, Democrats are already pointing to polling foreshadowing favorable outcomes in 2026. A Quinnipiac University poll out in late June revealed that 55 percent of voters oppose the 'Big Beautiful Bill,' and a Fox News poll out last month showed 59 percent of voters oppose it. But some Democrats worry that merely defining Republicans with the bill may not be enough, saying that the party needs to coalesce around an agenda of their own for voters to turn to. 'Democrats have done a good job defining the bill as being bad for regular people. The Democrats have to do better at making an argument that they have an agenda that will challenge the status quo on behalf of working people to make their lives better,' said Democratic strategist Jamal Simmons. 'It's something Democrats need to start doing now because it's a long term problem that needs a long term solution.' A further challenge facing Democrats involves the timing of some of the law's provisions. While benefits like the tax cuts take effect long before the midterms, the cuts to Medicaid and food stamps are delayed until January of 2027 — after voters go to the polls. 'It will be harder to show someone who has lost his or her health care. Instead, they'll have to talk about who's at risk,' said Simmons. 'From a messaging perspective, it's more compelling to show someone who has…already lost their benefits than to discuss someone in jeopardy of losing their benefits.' Regardless, Democrats agree that the bill's impacts must be told at the local level with the stories of voters who are at risk or already affected. They're already pointing, for instance, at a rural hospital in Nebraska that's closing its doors as a direct result of the coming Medicaid cuts. 'You might see rural hospitals closing a little bit sooner. It's got to be about rural hospitals that were open and this month they're closed because of what Donald Trump and Republicans did,' said Democratic strategist Joel Payne. 'It's got to be an effect. It's got to be stories. It's got to be individuals and real people.' '…This can't be a Washington, inside-the-Beltway story. This has to be a story that's told all around the country,' Payne added. In recent years, political observers say Democrats have struggled to reach broader audiences, the latest example being their inability to connect with middle-income voters in the 2024 presidential election. But they say the time is ripe for Democrats to push beyond their 'very same tried and true tactics,' as Setzer put it. 'We have a messengers problem. We have a message problem. We don't actually have a substance problem right now,' Setzer said. 'We have a very important piece of legislation to run against right now that is very wide-ranging in its impact. So they need to expand who they are talking to…and expand the platforms on which we are talking to people.' 'In every electoral victory that we've seen lately, whether it is Donald Trump or Mamdani, you see someone who is willing to branch out in the platforms that they're going to,' Setzer added.
30 minutes ago
What to know about the troops and federal agents in LA's MacArthur Park
LOS ANGELES -- U.S. military troops and federal immigration officers made a brief but mighty show of force Monday at a Los Angeles park in a neighborhood dubbed the 'Ellis Island of the West Coast" for its large immigrant population. The operation left local officials and organizers with many questions. Here is a look at what we know. About 90 National Guard troops and dozens of federal officers descended on MacArthur Park in the morning. But it was nearly empty, since word spread of a potential raid. Mayor Karen Bass said she pulled over on her way to City Hall to witness officers on horseback and soldiers in tactical gear walking past a playground as children at a summer day camp were rushed indoors so they would not be traumatized. The troops and officers left after about an hour. The Department of Homeland Security did not say whether anyone was arrested. Associated Press journalists who arrived as the troops and agents entered the park did not see anyone detained. Some activists showed up to take videos and record the scene. When asked about the appearance in MacArthur Park, the DHS said in an email that the agency would not comment on 'ongoing enforcement operations.' The Defense Department referred all questions to DHS. Bass and Gov. Gavin Newsom called it a political stunt and spectacle meant to intimidate the city's immigrant communities. The park dates back to the late 19th century when the city received a mudhole and trash dump spanning 35 acres in a land swap, according to the Los Angeles Conservancy. After a 'generous application of fertilizer," it said the area was turned into Westlake Park with a small boating lake. In 1942, the name was changed to MacArthur Park for Army General Douglas MacArthur, who fought in WWII. Since the 1980s, the Westlake neighborhood has evolved into a densely populated immigrant neighborhood with the settlement of Indigenous people from Mexico and Central America and other groups. It is also home to several immigrant rights organizations and legal aid offices. Eunisses Hernandez, a council member whose district includes MacArthur Park said the park 'was chosen as this administration's latest target precisely because of who lives there and what it represents: Resilience, diversity and the American dream. It is no coincidence that the president would target a place that so clearly embodies the values he has spent his time in office trying to destroy.' In recent years, the park has drawn homeless encampments. Outreach teams work there regularly, treating people with drug addiction. In 2007, the park was the site of large May Day rallies to demand amnesty for immigrants without legal status that ended with police firing rubber bullets at protesters. Demonstrators later sued the city and received a $12.8 million settlement. Defense officials had said 90 National Guard troops and over a dozen military vehicles were sent to protect immigration officers. The defense officials told reporters that it was not a military operation but acknowledged that the size and scope of the Guard's participation could make it look like one to the public. That is why the officials spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details about the raid before it happened. The operation in the large park about 2 miles (3.2 km) west of downtown LA included 17 Humvees, four tactical vehicles, two ambulances and the armed soldiers, defense officials said. The decision to have the soldiers provide security on the raids moves troops closer than ever before to carrying out law enforcement actions such as deportations, as President Donald Trump has promised as part of his immigration crackdown. Trump ordered the deployment of about 4,000 California National Guard troops and 800 active duty Marines against the wishes of Newsom in early June to respond to a series of protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in Los Angeles. The federal troops' domestic deployment has raised multiple legal questions, including whether the administration would seek to employ emergency powers under the Insurrection Act to empower those forces to conduct law enforcement on U.S. soil, which they are not permitted to do except in rare circumstances. The Marines are primarily assigned to protect federal buildings while hundreds of the National Guard troops accompany agents on immigration operations. Newsom has sued the administration over the deployment and the case is ongoing. Immigration advocates urged people to avoid the area before the heavily armed troops and federal officers arrived in armored vehicles. Betsy Bolte, who lives nearby, came to the park after seeing a military-style helicopter circling overhead. She said it was 'gut-wrenching' to witness what appeared to be a federal show of force on the streets of a U.S. city. 'It's terror and, you know, it's ripping the heart and soul out of Los Angeles,' she said. 'I am still in shock, disbelief, and so angry and terrified and heartbroken.' Chris Newman, legal director for the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, said he received a credible tip about the operation Monday. The park is normally busy with families picnicking and vendors hawking food and toys but since federal agents have been making arrests around Los Angeles, Newman said fewer people have been going out. 'The ghost town-ification of LA is haunting, to say the very least,' he said. ____
Yahoo
33 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump says BRICS nations to get 10% tariff 'pretty soon'
By Andrea Shalal and Ricardo Brito WASHINGTON/BRASILIA (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday the U.S. would "pretty soon" charge a 10% tariff on imports from BRICS countries, drawing another complaint from Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who just hosted the bloc's annual summit. Trump, who raised the tariff threat on Sunday, said in a Tuesday cabinet meeting at the White House that the duty was on the way: "Anybody that's in BRICS is getting a 10% charge pretty soon ... If they're a member of BRICS, they're going to have to pay a 10% tariff ... and they won't be a member long." The BRICS group expanded last year beyond Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa to include members such as Iran and Indonesia. Leaders at the summit in Rio de Janeiro voiced indirect criticism of U.S. military and trade policies. Asked about Trump's tariff threat, Lula told journalists at the BRICS summit on Monday that the world does not want an emperor. After a state visit from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Lula on Tuesday expressed further disagreement. "We will not accept any complaints about the BRICS summit. We do not agree with the U.S. president insinuating he's going to put tariffs on BRICS countries," he told journalists in Brasilia. Trump gave no specific date for the BRICS tariff to kick in. On Monday, a source familiar with the matter said the Trump administration would charge the tariff only if countries adopted anti-American policies, differentiating actions from statements like the one adopted by the BRICS leaders on Sunday. Trump claimed without evidence on Tuesday that the group was set up to hurt the United States and he U.S. dollar's role as the world's reserve currency. He said he would not allow that to happen. "BRICS was set up to degenerate our dollar and take our dollar ... take it off as the standard," he said. "And that's okay if they want to play that game, but I can play that game too." Trump said losing the dollar's role as the world's reserve currency would be like "losing a war, a major world war. We would not be the same country any longer." Brazil in February nixed plans for a common currency agenda during its presidency year. Sign in to access your portfolio
