Newsom has defended the proposal as a break-the-emergency-glass maneuver to preserve what he has cast as America’s besieged democracy, arguing Democrats have to become more aggressive and creative to have a shot at blocking Trump’s agenda.

President Donald Trump is pulling federal funding for one of California’s most ambitious—and controversial—projects as his feud with the state’s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, rages on. Trump announced that he had “officially freed” American taxpayers from funding the state’s long-planned high-speed train,

In 2023, the Biden Administration awarded California $3.1 billion in federal funds toward the high-speed rail project, which aimed to connect California, Los Angeles, and the Central Valley with 220-mile-per-hour, fully electrified trains, the California High-Speed Rail Authority announced at the time.

Newsom laughed and responded, “You’re hitting me right there man, the California exodus. By the way, complete bulls—t. Now, the last two years, we’ve seen significant growth in California’s population. So it’s reversed, and record-breaking tourism.”

One labor leader called out the governor “for not discussing common sense regulations on technology and AI to save jobs and to save privacy.”

The update comes after President Donald Trump earlier this week urged Republican state lawmakers in Texas to help the party pick up five seats in that state.

Newsom says federal drawdown does little to calm fear in immigrant communities after weeks of aggressive ICE operations

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) said on Wednesday that California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) would be a “great” presidential candidate for the Democratic Party in 2028. Earlier on the panel, Lieu told