Until hours before California Gov. Gavin Newsom greeted President Donald Trump with a bro-hug on the Los Angeles tarmac Friday, his advisers had spent the week monitoring new White House advance staffers’ social media accounts, hoping for clues for where Trump was going to talk about the wildfire damage.
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That’s the state of relations as California and the federal government face one of the most expensive natural disasters ever, and perhaps one of the most complex in American history.
No one was talking between the Democratic governor’s team and the newly inaugurated president’s, two people on Newsom’s team told CNN. Transition officials never responded to Newsom’s letter inviting the then-president-elect to visit two weeks ago, they confirmed, and the White House didn’t invite him to meet Air Force One when it landed.
But Newsom showed up anyway, and positioned at the bottom of the steps, he embraced the president in the middle of a long handshake, then kissed first lady Melania Trump on the cheek.
Donald Trump was clearly pleased: speaking to reporters on the tarmac, he said he “appreciated the governor coming out and meeting me.” Newsom was dutifully deferential when Trump then invited him to speak: “We’re going to need your support, we’re going to need your help. You were there for us during Covid. I have all the expectations that we’re going to be able to work together for a speedy recovery.”
This is not how Newsom has otherwise spoken about Trump or the Covid response in 2020. But it seems to have worked.
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