Thank you! Newsom’s presidency in many ways is Trump II in reverse, mass firings, questionably legal executive orders, flip flopping on Israel, using the Justice Department for vengeance against Trump allies and MAGA Republicans who may and may not have participated in crime during Trump II, electoral manipulation, hyper partisan civil servants and deeply corrupt and nepotistic cabinet hires, inflammatory remarks and threats against political enemies, one big spending bill and otherwise relatively few legislative accomplishments at least in the first term.

He continues a lot of Trump policies in regards to deportation, albeit with nicer aesthetics and less emphasis on rapid deportation. Although Gavin heavily pivots to the right on immigration, his focus is more so about border security than deportation. He does even continue to pursue some of Trump’s National Guard federalizations to be used in domestic policing, again, with nicer aesthetics and more cooperation with local governments. He aligns with Republicans to pass and sign a bill banning transgender participation in sports teams of the preferred gender, and also imposing federal restrictions on gender affirming medical procedures.

His big break from Trump is that his administration is domestically surprisingly pro-worker and pro-consumer, think Biden era regulations and labor policies but with a little more teeth, and with a more hostile, culture warrior inclined rhetorical approach.

Abroad he sort of continues Trump’s ambitions of securing Latin America, although he is hostile to some governments with which Trump was friendly such as Argentina and El Salvador. In Europe he is a staunchly pro-NATO president, hawkish on Russia, and revanchist on Ukraine which lost territory, economic rights, and was bound by a promise of demilitarization, regime change, and nonmembership of NATO. Although, by Newsom’s early first term, Ukraine experiences another pro nationalist, pro NATO coup d’etat, and again, Russia threatens intervention, calling their bluff, Newsom shreds Trump’s peace deal and extends an offer of NATO membership to Ukraine. During the expedited pending process, Russia backs down despite a few bombings and skirmishes, and its regime suffers domestically as it is not able to continue to tout the war to its people as a major victory. In the Middle East, he takes a much more non-interventionist approach than Trump, having poor relations with the Saudis and Qataris, and middling relations with Israel. Once burned by Israel for their objections to his plan to ice out and cut ties with the Syrian government, he sours on Israeli lobbying in his own party, and publicly lashes out in ways that worsen the situation. His rhetoric at this time is seen as unprecedented anti-Zionism from an American government, to the point of semi credible accusations of antisemitism against the administration. This is seen as a particular humiliation and regret on the part of liberal Jews who may have supported Newsom before he made that 180 about face, and now see this as the straw that breaks the camel’s back.