Trump’s Bold Threats Spark California’s Fight to Resist

Within hours of Donald Trump’s victory this month, California’s top elected officials readied themselves to reprise familiar roles as leaders of the Democratic resistance.

Gov. Gavin Newsom called a special session of the state legislature to discuss the best ways of “Trump-proofing” California and traveled to Washington to ask for President Joe Biden’s help.

Attorney General Rob Bonta held a news conference in front of the Golden Gate Bridge to declare that “if Trump attacks your rights, I’ll be there.”

And Democratic lawmakers at every level of government here issued statements assuring residents they will fight hard against any federal incursions.

California’s leading liberals spent months plotting how they might oppose a Trump administration were he to win, and many of them have been here before, as recently as four years ago during the president-elect’s first term.

But already there are signs that Round 2 of their fight will be far more difficult.

Trump will enter office emboldened, riding high after a decisive win, with more loyalists than ever in a House and Senate controlled by Republicans. Federal courts — once California’s most effective option for fighting Trump policies — are far more conservative than they were eight years ago. And Trump has already signaled he plans to relentlessly target the Golden State, threatening to withhold federal funding for disaster relief and public education if state officials buck his demands.

“He’s…   going to come harder, come faster, executive orders on Day One,” Newsom said in a video address a few days after the election. “He’s going to be more aggressive than he was in the past.”

Trump himself has said as much, invoking California often on the campaign trail, employing outlandish exaggeration and outright falsehoods to portray the state as a ruined product of Democratic leadership. He has repeatedly singled out Newsom, referring to him as “Newscum.” And in a social media post following his reelection, he accused the governor of “trying to KILL our Nation’s beautiful California.”

Trump has pledged to take on a dizzying range of California policies, from its water management to its laws prohibiting voter identification requirements. The president-elect has also chafed at Newsom’s “Trump-proof” precautions, which shifted into full gear almost immediately after Election Day.