President Donald Trump is preparing to visit California on Tuesday to tout his administration’s economic successes and attack the state’s “failed Democratic leadership,” according to the White House.
“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,” White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales said on Monday.
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Trump’s trip to the Golden State was first reported by the New York Post and subsequently confirmed by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) is expected to be the target of the president’s ire. Newsom is facing scrutiny from the Trump administration due to his wife’s financial and tax records. The governor has denied any wrongdoing and criticized the Department of Justice for what he views as a politically motivated investigation.
Trump has been feuding with Newsom ever since the Republican returned to office last year. Trump last visited California to tour the wildfire damage in the Los Angeles area. He also signed an executive order to accelerate recovery efforts in the affected areas, such as the Pacific Palisades neighborhood.
During the trip, Trump and Newsom were seen getting along and shaking each other’s hands as they coordinated federal disaster relief efforts following the major wildfires. Since then, the two have been increasingly at each other’s throats over various issues.
Their administrations are locked in a standoff over the California High-Speed Rail project, which lost $4 billion in federal funding. Newsom blasted the federal clawback done by the Transportation Department as politically motivated retribution. The state claimed as much in a lawsuit, which was dropped late last year.
Trump and Newsom have also been battling over the Sable Offshore Corp. oil pipeline project near Santa Barbara, where the president wants to restart domestic oil production. Newsom and other state leaders are legally challenging the federal executive order that authorized the Energy Department to restart the Sable pipeline under the Defense Production Act of 1950.
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Trump posted a White House fact sheet on the executive order over the weekend ahead of his upcoming economic tour, where he is likely to talk about the oil pipeline project.
In California on Tuesday, Trump will headline a Republican National Committee dinner at Trump National Golf Club Los Angeles. On Wednesday, he will travel to neighboring Nevada to deliver a speech on the economy at Las Vegas’s Red Rock Casino Resort and Spa.
