Gavin Newsom presents a budget with a 12 billion deficit and blames it on Trump

Gavin Newsom unveiled his spending proposal for fiscal year 2025/2026, which includes a $12 billion deficit. The California governor, who looms as a major contender in the 2028 presidential election, spent more than an hour explaining the details of the budget and blamed Donald Trump for the announced deficit.

The Democrat's proposal turned out to be diametrically different from what he had anticipated in January, when he offered a "balanced budget" as part of "an unprecedented effort to address the budget deficit." However, five months later, the result was in the red with a deficit of 12 billion.

As Newsom explained, the January proposal came against the backdrop of an economy "in full swing," something that, according to his analysis, changed diametrically with Trump's arrival in the White House. "That has significantly changed since the actions of this administration." The Democratic governor continued, remarking that the country "is under attack because we have a president that’s been reckless."

"They've doubled the budget but everything is worse"

Steve Hilton, a former Fox News anchor who recently announced his candidacy for governor of California for 2026, was quick to attack Newsom over his deficit budget.

"Truly painful listening to Gavin Newsom budget presentation. Endless blah blah and blame-shifting. Inputs not results. They doubled the budget but everything's worse. And the real pain is inflicted on working families and small business," he wrote on his X account.

"Everything is NOT fine, Gavin. I wish you would just sometimes understand how bad things have gotten. But your party won't let you change. It's run by ideologues and the government unions. Nothing will improve in California unless we get change at the top," he said.

Hilton launched his campaign in mid-April, proposing lower taxes for workers, less red tape for businesses, and a return to "sensible" government spending. That earned him the initial endorsement of Vivek Ramaswamy, now a gubernatorial candidate in Ohio.