Governor Gavin Newsom spoke to the press at the end of his statewide homelessness tour, in Oakland, Calif. 38a2234
Sacramento, California – Gov. Gavin Newsom didn’t take the Assembly rostrum this year. Instead, he sent lawmakers a letter. But the message in his fifth consecutive written State of the State address was unmistakable: California, he said, is under siege from President Donald Trump and his administration, yet remains resilient and unbending.
Delivered Tuesday, the letter painted a portrait of a state grappling with natural disaster, economic strain, and a hostile federal government. Newsom’s words carried the weight of his national profile, which has grown steadily as he confronts Trump head-on. More than a policy outline, the address read like a call to arms. “California is menaced by a federal administration that dismantles public services, punishes allies across the globe, and sweeps the rule of law into the gutter,” Newsom wrote. “But California…is standing up.”
The governor framed Trump as a destabilizing force and California as a defender of democratic values. He pointed to the state’s handling of the catastrophic Los Angeles County wildfires in January, crediting firefighters and emergency crews who braved hurricane-force winds to save lives. While critics have faulted delays in evacuation orders and inadequate pre-positioning of resources, Newsom stressed what he called the “historic speed and scale” of the recovery effort. Homes, he said, are already rising from the ashes.
But even as flames burned, he argued, the new president turned his sights on California. Newsom blasted Trump’s deployment of the National Guard and Marines in Los Angeles to aid immigration enforcement, calling it “a cowardly attempt to scare us into submission.” He recounted scenes of farmworkers chased through Ventura County fields and street vendors detained in Los Angeles plazas with chilling historical resonance. California, he wrote, has resisted through lawsuits and public protest.
The address also revisited themes Newsom has leaned on throughout his tenure: investment in green energy, education, and economic opportunity. He highlighted the state’s clean-energy milestones, like 2 million zero-emission vehicles sold and a power grid that has operated on 100 percent clean electricity for the equivalent of 60 days this year. He underscored California’s $4.1 trillion economy, noting its dominance in startups, venture capital, and space technology.
Still, the challenges are familiar. California continues to face a swelling budget deficit, chronic homelessness, and housing costs that price out much of the middle class. Critics argue Newsom’s expansion of health coverage to undocumented immigrants has deepened the fiscal shortfall, and his backing of Proposition 50—a measure to redraw congressional maps to Democrats’ advantage—has fueled accusations that he is encouraging partisan gerrymandering.
The governor didn’t linger on those critiques. Instead, he described California as a place that embraces innovation and inclusion, from universal transitional kindergarten to new apprenticeship programs that connect students directly to jobs. His message to Trump, meanwhile, was pointed: California won’t bow.
“As California celebrates its 175th year of statehood, the state of the state is strong, fully committed to defending democracy, and resolved to never bend,” Newsom wrote in closing.
Whether the letter reassures Californians or fuels his critics, it makes clear that Newsom is positioning himself not just as governor, but as Trump’s most visible foil—an image likely to follow him well beyond Sacramento.
