Frenemies: Newsom comes hat in hand to meet Trump at White House

Gov. Gavin Newsom and President Donald Trump — who have very visibly traded political fire but who also have worked together — meet at the White House on Wednesday as the California governor fights to secure more money for people and businesses devastated following last month’s deadly wildfires in metropolitan Los Angeles.

The trip is the first by Newsom to Washington, D.C., since Trump took over in the White House and is part of his efforts to obtain additional federal funding to aid in wildfire recovery from the horrific blazes that killed 29 people and destroyed over 12,000 homes and forced tens of thousands to evacuate.

Newsom arrived in the nation’s capital on the eve of his visit to the White House, and hours ahead of the meeting he headed to Capitol Hill to hold separate meetings with members of Congress.

The governor traveled east a day after California lawmakers approved $25 million in legal funding proposed by the Democratic governor to challenge actions by the Trump administration. And the legislature also allocated another $25 million for legal groups to defend undocumented immigrants facing possible deportation by new Trump administration efforts.

TRUMP MEETS WITH CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS, FIRE AND LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS TO SEE LA WILDFIRE DAMAGE FIRST HAND

Newsom came to Washington, D.C., hat in hand.

Late last month, the governor approved $2.5 billion for fire recovery work, which he hopes will be reimbursed by the federal government. 

And the state will likely need much more help from the federal government, as the bill to cover rebuilding costs is expected to reach into the tens of billions of dollars.

“The Governor’s trip is focused on securing critical disaster aid for the survivors of the Los Angeles fires and ensuring impacted families who lost their homes and livelihoods have the support they need to rebuild and recover,” spokesperson Izzy Gardon said in a statement.

After the outbreak of the fires early last month, Trump repeatedly criticized Newsom’s handling of the immense crisis. He has accused the governor of mismanaging forestry and water policy and, pointing to intense backlash over a perceived lack of preparation, called on Newsom to step down.

“Gavin Newscum should resign. This is all his fault!!!” Trump charged in a social media post on Jan. 8, as he repeated a derogatory name he often labels the governor.

Trump also placed blame for the deadly wildfires on Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, another Democrat, and the policies approved by state lawmakers in heavily blue California. In an executive order issued last month, he described management of the state’s land and water resources as “disastrous.”

Newsom — the governor of the nation’s most populous state, one of the Democratic Party’s leaders in the resistance against the returning president and a potential White House contender in 2028 — pushed back against Trump, as the two larger-than-life politicians traded fire.

Disputing Trump, the governor noted that reservoirs in the southern part of California were full when the fires first sparked, and has argued that no amount of water could tackle fires fueled by winds of up to 100 miles per hour.

Newsom also charged Trump had spread “hurricane-force winds of mis- and disinformation.”

NEWSOM CALLS TRUMP’S CLAIMS ‘PURE FICTION’ AFTER HE POINTED FINGER OVER CALIFORNIA FIRE TRAGEDY

Trump met with Newsom as he arrived in Los Angeles late last month — just four days after his inauguration as president — to survey the fire damage.

Trump had threatened to withhold wildfire aid until certain stipulations were met in California, including changes to water policy and requiring an ID to vote, but now appears willing to work with Newsom.

“Thank you first for being here. It means a great deal to all of us,” Newsom told Trump as he greeted the president upon his arrival in Los Angeles last month. “We’re going to need your support. We’re going to need your help.” 

The president declared that “we’re looking to get something completed. And the way you get it completed is to work together.”

The wildfires are far from the first time Newsom and Trump took aim at each other. Their animosity dated back to before Trump was elected president the first time in 2016, when Newsom was California’s lieutenant governor.

The verbal fireworks continued over the past two years, as Newsom served as a top surrogate on the campaign trail for former President Joe Biden and then former Vice President Kamala Harris, who replaced Biden as the Democrats’ 2024 standard-bearer last summer.

Following Trump’s convincing election victory over Harris in November, Newsom moved to “Trump-proof” his heavily blue state.

“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,’ but I just overwhelmingly won the Election,” Trump responded.

Since their meeting in Los Angeles, Newsom has appeared to be more restrained in his criticism of Trump.

Following Trump’s orders, the US Army Corps of Engineers last week opened two dams in Central California, letting roughly 2.2 billion gallons of water flow out of reservoirs.

Trump celebrated the move in posts to Truth Social post on Friday and Sunday, declaring, “the water is flowing in California,” and adding the water was “heading to farmers throughout the State, and to Los Angeles.”

But water experts argue that the newly released water won’t flow to Los Angeles, and it is being wasted by being released during California’s normally wet winter season.

Newsom, apparently aiming to rebuild the working relationship he had with Trump during the president’s first term in the White House, didn’t raise any objections to the water release.

Fox News’ Christina Shaw, Elizabeth Pritchett, Pat Ward, and Lee Ross contributed to this story.