Trump takes economy, crime and border message to California, where Newsom rivalry awaits
byCORY SMITH | The National News Desk
Tue, August 4, 2026 at 1:28 PM
President Donald Trump and California Gov. Gavin Newsom are seen in Getty photos. (TRUMP: Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images; NEWSOM: Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
(TNND) —President Donald Trump is returning to California for the first time in 18 months for a Republican National Committee dinner and to “tout his wins for the people of the Golden State despite failed Democrat leadership,”
Wales pointed to tax cuts, border security and falling crime rates as accomplishments Trump will highlight in his West Coast trip
“The President will draw a sharp contrast between his commonsense agenda and the radical policies of Democrats like Gavin Newsom, who keep raising taxes, inviting rampant fraud in taxpayer-funded programs, and protecting illegal immigrant drug dealers, rapists, and murderers,” Wales told The National News Desk in a statement
Trump will take off Tuesday for Los Angeles, where he will attend an RNC dinner at Trump National Golf Club
Trump will then travel to Las Vegas, where he’ll deliver remarks Wednesday at Red Rock Casino on the economy, according to the White House
Trump last visited California just days after returning to office in January 2025 to tour wildfire devastation and sign an executive order to speed up reconstruction in the Pacific Palisades and Eaton Canyon areas, where wildfires destroyed nearly 40,000 acres of homes and businesses
Trump and Newsom, the Democratic governor of California, have repeatedly traded political attacks
“Donald Trump is coming to California for the first time in 18 months — not to deliver the federal disaster aid Los Angeles wildfire survivors have been waiting for, but to raise money for himself and attack California with the same tired falsehoods,” Newsom’s office said in a social media post
Trump criticized “blue cities” during an Oval Office event Monday, saying they have high crime and are “filthy, dirty.”
Newsom’s office responded to that comment with an X post showing sunny beaches and Californians lounging on green grass in parks
The White House said crime in California likely reached a record low last year, falling 7% year-over-year
Meanwhile, Newsom is also taking credit for falling crime
The governor’s office said homicide has fallen 20%, robbery has fallen 31% and property crime has fallen 24% since Newsom became governor in 2019
LAST YEAR: Trump visit to Los Angeles wildfire sites
The White House pointed to Trump’s crackdown on illegal migrant criminals, connecting that effort to the falling murder rate in Los Angeles
The White House also said Trump slowed the inflow of illegal immigration in California with his border security policies. Net international migration to California fell nearly 70% between July 2024 and July 2025, the White House said
The Trump administration has made fighting fraud in California a priority
The Department of Justice launched a West Coast Strike Forceteam targeting health care fraud across Arizona, Nevada and northern California in April
And the administration deferred $1.3 billion in federal Medicaid reimbursements for California in May amid fraud concerns over the state’s hospice and home health agencies
Meanwhile, Trump is expected to use his West Coast swing to make the case that his signature One Big Beautiful Bill, rebranded the Working Families Tax Cuts, has been a boon to workers and businesses in California and Nevada
The White House claimed that passage of the bill last summer resulted in the protection of over 700,000 Californian jobs and preserved $134 billion in Californian economic activity
Among the provisions the White House highlighted as being beneficial to Californians were those reducing or eliminating federal income taxes on eligible tips and overtime pay, as well as the increase in the State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction cap
