Newsom’s 2025: Wildfire crisis, budget cuts and bombastic opposition to Trump

It’s been a year of highs, lows and an ever-brighter national spotlight for Gov. Gavin Newsom.

All eyes were on Los Angeles as wildfires tore through the city in January. Newsom, having just responded to President Donald Trump’s reelection by calling a special legislative session to fund lawsuits against him, was suddenly forced into a more conciliatory stance as he sought federal aid for fire recovery that has still not materialized. To close a tough budget deficit exacerbated by the prospect of steep federal cuts, he angered some in his own party with cuts to the state health coverage of undocumented immigrants. To explore Democrats’ losses in 2024, he alienated progressives while courting right-wing activists on his podcast.

He found his way back as Trump resister-in-chief — and national Democratic darling — again when the president sent aggressive immigration raids and the National Guard to Los Angeles this summer. Then he successfully converted the anti-Trump fervor of that moment into a campaign for Proposition 50, the Democratic gerrymandering effort to counter the president’s attempt to gain new GOP seats in Congress.

Newsom also won big with the Legislature along the way, using his considerable influence over the state budget to strong-arm lawmakers into passing significant carveouts to environmental law in an effort to boost construction of housing and infrastructure. He negotiated several major climate and energy policies that mostly ended up the way he wanted. Those efforts will allow Newsom to say to a national audience that he took voters’ concerns over affordability seriously and worked to lower housing and energy costs. But he will likely receive some blowback for backing away from a more aggressive and environmentally-minded stance toward the oil industry to achieve it — especially as he increasingly uses California’s strict emissions regulations and climate advocacy as a proxy for national leadership.

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But the mostly victorious year for the governor’s political profile has also been touched by scandal in recent weeks amid campaign corruption charges filed against his former top aide. He has not been accused of wrongdoing, but it’s possible the association could taint his reputation regardless as he looks for his next political move.

2026 outlook

The next year will continue to be challenging for the state budget as officials predict more deficits. That would limit the governor’s ability to propose any ambitious new programs in his final year in office, a time he’ll need to try to make more inroads on some of California’s most entrenched problems. A persistent housing shortage, homelessness and the high cost of living are all likely to become baggage for Newsom if he does pursue an expected presidential run after he leaves office.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.