The Big Take
‘I Want to Win’: Inside Gavin Newsom’s Plan for Taking On Trump
Armed with a podcast, a ballot measure and tweets, California’s governor is spoiling for a fight with the president.
Earlier this year, as wildfires tore across Southern California, Gavin Newsom confronted what felt to him like the low point of a high-wattage political career—and to others like the possible end of a steady political rise that had long fueled whispers of a White House bid.
Entire neighborhoods in Los Angeles burned to the ground. Fire hydrants ran out of water. Visiting the wreckage, Newsom was assailed by angry constituents on live TV. And in a surreal twist, the incoming president was blaming him personally for the disaster. “NO MORE EXCUSES FROM THIS INCOMPETENT GOVERNOR,” Donald Trump thundered on social media.