Newsom notes ‘positive’ talk with Trump during D.C. visit to secure federal fire aid
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Good morning. Here’s what you need to know to start your day.
- How Newsom’s trip to D.C. went.
- Record-breaking rain lashes California, with two people killed during storm in Sonoma County.
- Dazzling Midcentury Modern homes you don’t want to miss at Palm Springs’ Modernism Week.
- And here’s today’s e-newspaper.
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Newsom and Trump meet again, this time in D.C.
Gov. Gavin Newsom traveled to Washington this week for a 90-minute sit-down with President Trump in the Oval Office Wednesday, followed by meetings with U.S. House and Senate leaders Thursday.
The governor’s main goal was to secure federal disaster aid for Los Angeles County after last month’s deadly, destructive fires, likely to be among the costliest natural disasters in U.S. history.
Local and state agencies can seek federal reimbursements for firefighting resources, providing shelter to the thousands who lost their homes, as well as the monthslong debris removal process.
Before he left office, President Biden promised to reimburse 100% of fire response costs for the first six months. But given the region’s long road to recovery and rebuilding, longer-term support will be needed from the Trump administration.
And Newsom had a second objective, my colleagues Taryn Luna and Faith E. Pinho reported: “To continue to repair his rocky relationship with the commander-in-chief.”
How did it go?
In an interview with The Times Thursday, Newsom described the conversation as “substantive” and “positive.” He said they discussed wildfire recovery along with more contentious topics, including water policy and recently passed state legislation that would boost the state’s legal funding for an expected barrage of lawsuits against Trump’s actions (which has already begun).
You might recall that Trump expressed a desire to put conditions on the state in order to grant federal aid.
“I just want voter ID as a start, and I want the water to be released,” Trump told reporters in North Carolina before he flew to L.A. to meet with local officials on Jan. 24. “After that, I will be the greatest president that California has ever seen.”
Newsom told The Times that quid pro did not come up in “explicit terms” when he and Trump spoke Wednesday.
Newsom is looking to strike a balance between collaboration and confrontation.
Shortly after Trump’s election victory, Newsom told donors that his goal was “not to wake up every single day and get a crowbar and try to put it in the spokes of the wheel of the Trump administration.”
“In that spirit of an open hand, not a closed fist, that’s how we want to proceed,” the governor said. “[But] I’m not naive either, and we’re pragmatic and we will stand firm.”
Luna and Pinho noted that Trump’s visit to fire-ravaged L.A. kicked off with a meeting with Newsom on the tarmac, which represented a congenial shift after recent years of contentious crossfire between the two leaders.
“After the brief airport chat and a 30-minute phone call the next day, Trump’s daily barrage of criticism of the governor has mostly stopped,” they wrote. “Newsom has been careful not to immediately react to everything Trump says or does, but also walk the fine line of speaking out when he feels California’s values are under attack.”
One example of that fine line: the recent discharge of water from two dams in Tulare County by the Army Corps of Engineers, which said it was acting on an earlier order from the president.
Trump celebrated dumping billions of gallons downstream into the San Joaquin Valley, saying it would flow to farmers and aid firefighting efforts in L.A.
In reality, much of the water ended up seeping into the ground, my colleague Ian James reported this week, as it’s not irrigation season and the Central Valley waterway does not lead to L.A. Local and state water experts criticized the action as a wasteful political stunt that will hurt farmers.
“Attempts to connect water management in Northern California to local wildfire fighting in Los Angeles have zero factual basis,” Tara Gallegos, a spokesperson for Newsom’s office, told me via email. “California continues to pump as much water as it did under the Trump administration’s policies, and water operations to move water south through the Delta have absolutely nothing to do with the local fire response in Los Angeles.”
But personally, Newsom has been muted on the incident, with some critics even saying that his latest order to “maximize” water capture mirrors Trump’s rhetoric.
“This order reads as though it was written by President Trump,” Barry Nelson, a policy representative for the fishing group Golden State Salmon Assn, told James.
Today’s top stories
Investigating the California wildfires of 2025
- Authorities say an uptick in arson arrests was likely the result of increased public attention to common smaller fires, which are dangerous during extreme weather conditions.
- Amid drones, long-distance camera lenses and metal detectors, a hillside in Eaton Canyon has become the focus of intense scrutiny over the last month by teams of private investigators now seeking clues on whether Southern California Edison equipment caused the massive fire that destroyed large swaths of Altadena.
- Read more on how the deadly blazes started, the conditions that allowed for widespread destruction and how local government fell short in efforts to protect and alert the public.
Aryan Brotherhood on trial
- A witness testified he killed three men in a two-week span on the orders of the Aryan Brotherhood.
- Prosecutors say they have traced seven homicides — two behind bars, five on the streets of Los Angeles County — to three alleged leaders of the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang.
- The ongoing federal trial of three alleged Aryan Brotherhood members has revealed the prison gang’s influence on the streets of Los Angeles County.
What else is going on
- Record-breaking rain lashes California, with two people killed during storm in Sonoma County.
- After a brutal fire season, California lawmakers call for seasonal firefighters to be employed year-round.
- Allstate expects $1.1 billion in losses from the Los Angeles fires.
- The interpreter who stole millions from Shohei Ohtani faces prison at sentencing.
- L.A. County was hit with a record number of lawsuits amid a flood of child sex-abuse claims.
- A key Los Angeles City Council committee has rejected an effort to freeze rents citywide, but advanced a series of eviction protections for people economically affected by recent fires.
- The FCC and CBS have released an unedited “60 Minutes” Kamala Harris interview amid a Trump lawsuit.
- A judge allows CBS to distribute ‘Jeopardy’ and ‘Wheel of Fortune’ amid Sony dispute.
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Commentary and opinions
- Slow the spread of fire? ‘We have to get rid of the palm trees,’ columnist Steve Lopez writes.
- Trump’s all-out assault on transgender rights isn’t a sign of strength, but cowardice, writes columnist Michael Hiltzik.
- Forget Trump’s wrecking ball. Here’s how to treat America’s public lands, columnist Sammy Roth writes.
- Is it a coup if it’s legal? When you make the rules, it’s hard to break them, columnist Anita Chabria writes.
- Are the Dodgers ruining baseball? “There are some owners that have concerns,” columnist Bill Shaikin writes.
- Vandalize an Italian American museum during an immigration protest? Bad move, writes columnist Gustavo Arellano.
This morning’s must reads
Laverne Cox and George Wallace offer a loving vision of trans families in ‘Clean Slate.’ The actors spoke about their new Prime Video comedy series that features Cox as a transgender woman returning home to Alabama to live with her father, played by Wallace. It is as didactic as it is aspirational — especially at a time when executive orders from President Trump continue to target and erase trans lives.
Other must reads
- These families have long pushed to remember the Mexican repatriation. It’s more urgent than ever, they say.
- In Syria, the fighting is over, but a resource-rich region is left in limbo.
- Long Beach aquarium spotlights “real animals, real birds, real fish” with new report card.
- Plus-size fire evacuees struggled to find new clothes. This Burbank boutique lent a hand.
How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to [email protected].
For your downtime
Going out
- 🏠Dazzling Midcentury Modern homes you don’t want to miss at Palm Springs’ Modernism Week.
- 🎵🎰Kelly Clarkson stays busy: The singer has booked a new Las Vegas residency to start this summer.
Staying in
- 🎥 A mass hunger strike transformed solitary confinement in California prisons. This documentary captures the fight.
- 🍌🍞Here’s a recipe for chocolate chip banana bread with peanut crumble.
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Have a great day, from the Essential California team
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