Overview

• On The Late Show, Gavin Newsom labeled President Donald Trump’s governance authoritarian and cautioned that the U.S. may not hold a 2028 election without a public reckoning.
• He promoted California’s Prop 50 to redraw congressional districts, casting it as a pushback to what he alleges is Trump-backed midterm manipulation, as former governor Arnold Schwarzenegger opposes the measure.
• Newsom spotlighted new state protections for undocumented migrants, including a January 2026 ban on masked ICE or other officers during operations, which Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem called irresponsible and said federal agents would not follow.
• He criticized deployments of National Guard troops to U.S. cities and described growing militarization as a risk to civilians that undermines trust in law enforcement.
• His heightened profile comes as coverage and polling present him as a leading Democratic figure for 2028, while Kamala Harris said a compressed timeline after Joe Biden’s withdrawal was a major factor in her 2024 loss.