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- [00:00]
Gavin Newsom
At CES. Michael McDermott, EVP of Samsung, spoke with Bloomberg Media Studios about what the company calls its next AI Chapter, your companion to AI Living. It's a shift from AI as a feature to AI as a trusted partner in everyday life. Bloomberg Audio Studios Podcasts, radio news so.
- [00:24]
Interviewer
I think the situation in Minnesota is still on a lot of people's minds right now. I would like to hear what you thought of the events this weekend in Minneapolis, the death of Alex Freddie, and then what we're hearing today about a possible pullback by the Trump administration. Do you feel like that has credibility?
- [00:46]
Gavin Newsom
You got me on the credibility. Look, for me, just contextualize the way I process this. This future happened here first in June of last year, where we had 4,000 National Guard that were federalized. We had 700 active duty Marines that were not sent overseas to protect our interests, were sent to seize control of the second largest city in the United States of America, Los angeles. Close to 5,000 federalized troops on the streets of an American city last June. That mindset was further stretched a few months later when in an effort to organize a construct to respond to what happened in Texas with midterm redistricting, we launched our campaign for Proposition 50 in Little Tokyo in Los Angeles, the sacred site of where we were busing and interning the Japanese, well known site for anyone down in Southern California. It was at the of all places, Democracy Center. As we were walking in, people were being intimidated by a gentleman by the name of Bovino, Greg Bovino. Masked men surrounding the building. A poor guy selling strawberries across the street disappeared. Collateral damage was found a few weeks later. Tried to intimidate folks from assembling. We said that was a preview of things to come on election day in November. I wake up in the morning. Truth Social says the election's rigged. DOJ prosecutors, investigators are there. The expectation that they were going to file a lawsuit, which they have done, as you know, was set. But they also set the tone of the day by sending out Bovino's team, the BORTAC teams. These are the border patrol tactical units to Dodger Stadium, assembled there in order to chill free expression and free speech for diverse communities that were already on edge on election day. These guys are not screwing around.
- [02:56]
Interviewer
So I'm getting that you're not satisfied.
- [02:58]
Gavin Newsom
Nothing about what's happening in Minnesota and Minneapolis surprises me at all. Quite the contrary. And for not for a second, if Tom Homan, who was accused of a $50,000 bribe where charges disappeared, speaking of disappearing cash, FBI is the adult in the room. We are in more trouble than any of you think.
- [03:22]
Interviewer
If Republicans don't agree to reform ICE to pull back on the DHS budget, should Democrats close the government that's now on the table?
- [03:30]
Gavin Newsom
I don't think it's not an option.
- [03:33]
Interviewer
Well, it is an option.
- [03:34]
Gavin Newsom
Not an option. It's not an option. You want your republic. You want to save its democracy. You want to enjoy the 250th anniversary, maybe make 251st anniversary of the historic project of our founding fathers. It's not an option. What did he do in Fulton county today? What did Pam Bondi demand in order to move out? This is the second demand in two days. Just 24 hours ago, I'm old enough to remember Van Bondi said, we'll leave, but we want your voting rolls.
- [04:02]
Interviewer
This is the FBI rating voting rolls in Georgia around the 2020 election.
- [04:07]
Gavin Newsom
Well, but I'm referring to that as it relates to Fulton county example today, which is all about setting the baseline that the last election, 2020, was rigged. So you should have zero confidence in the outcome of the midterm elections, which Donald Trump is going to get crushed. I mean, what more evidence do we need? It's a stacking of all of these things. He is not screwing around. He tried to light democracy on fire when he lost the election, tried to light it on fire, tried to destroy this democracy. He's trying to ruin our republic. He's trying to torch it. What more evidence do we need on a day to day basis? All of this is part of that same narrative, that same threat. It's tragic what's happening. A five year old, angelic young boy used as leverage and collateral. This madness. Masked men not even identifying themselves, no warrants, terrorizing communities. People dying, quite literally now. Dying. We said people will die. People are dying in the United States of America. And what is the threat today to your question? Well, do what we legally can't do or we'll continue to illegally do what we've been doing. By terrorizing your community, by turning over people in local jails or whatever the hell else we want as points of leverage. None of this can be normalized and none of this, none of this can be considered credible in the context of any of this renewed, well, renewed posture of the administration.
- [05:44]
Interviewer
You talked about what the National Guard did in California last year. Do you worry that your continued emergence as a critic, as an antagonist of Trump, will bring the same pain that we're seeing in Minnesota back to California?
- [05:58]
Gavin Newsom
Well, I mean, I guess we can Roll over, kiss the ring, put on some knee pads, do what the universities, the law firms do. What ABC did, Paramount did, do What Meta did, YouTube did, you know, do what so many companies are doing. Maybe get a golden share in the Golden State. I mean, seriously, and just watch it all disappear. I guess we can do that or we can stand on principle. The rule of law, not the rule of dawn. I hope it's dawning on all of you. It's the rule of dawn. There are no co equal branches of government. We have a supine Congress. The only approximation of a co equal branch of government is the markets. Thank you. The markets. Mayor Bloomberg, it's the only thing he seems to pay attention to. He doesn't even pay attention to court orders. You saw that. The federal judge today, 96 specific attempts to completely deny court order just since he's been involved in this operation in Minnesota. This is code red. But it's become so normalized, it's in our bloodstream. I mean, last night he did 56 true socials in 60 minutes. 56. The president of the United States one of them. And forgive me, it's not a big deal, but it should alarm you. Was an AI generated video of the governor involved with Mexican cartels? That appears to have its origins as a Russian disinformation campaign. The President of the United States is tweeting that out about one of his political enemies. He said that hundreds of Walmart stores shut down in the state of California because of a $22 minimum wage. 1690, Walmart had to correct that today. Said we actually just opened a new store. That happened in the United States of America, but you see how that travels everywhere. It may even travel to one of your inboxes. Maybe it's a tweet. A retweet. I didn't say it. It was said. All of a sudden, now it's in a blog. All of a sudden, there's Jesse Waters. All of a sudden, there's Sean Hannity. All of a sudden we're having a conversation where I have to say, no, it's not true. I'm not involved with the Mexican cartels.
- [08:17]
Interviewer
One of the things that is coming to California is an investigation into waste fraud and abuse. The Trump administration clearly had some success with that. In Minnesota, Governor Tim Walz is not running for reelection. And now they've promised that the investigation into California has begun. What will they find and what is it?
- [08:36]
Gavin Newsom
Well, they'll find a state that's taking that issue very, very seriously. They'll find a State that years and years ago established the first framework, something called ID me, that has stopped $135 billion of fraud just at the EDD department. You'll see someone working with the Trump 1.0 administration calling out the fraud in the PUA program, which by the way, the OIG in the dlj, the dll, the Department of Labor, his own Office of Inspector General identified $163 billion of fraud under his administration in that program. California was able to stop it. We prosecuted 929 individuals. We've clawed back 5.9, almost $6 billion and we're still winding up all across the country. That was taking shape. You may have just seen some headlines. Thank you for those that wrote about them that California became the first pay by touch with EBT cards, saw an 83% decline in fraud just last year. You saw what we're doing and what the Trump administration's doing to. Your question with Dr. Oz might have. Well, you're living in Oz when he went down attacking the Armenian community just a few days ago. A business is down now 30%. Poor guy, small businessman running a bakery because he decided to do a little TikTok video or something saying they're somehow connected to the mob around hospice. Hospice. We've been after that for years and years before OZ was even on the scene. 2021 we did a moratorium on new hospice program. 280 we shuddered. We've been after this for years and years and years. We want an open hand, not a closed fist. We absolutely are here to be a partner to go after waste, fraud and abuse. I started something called odi Office of Digital Innovation. I did not, my mistake, do it with a chainsaw. Had I done that, you would know about it. We just began the Office of Digital Innovation and we started to begin a process of reforming our procurement and our strategies on technology across the board, but also on the issues of waste bottom abuse. By the way, ODI was partnership with the Halton Human Service to create the new EBD card which again is leading the nation. I'm humbled. In this perspective, no one's denying these issues. But let's also not deny this is purely political. You all know this because I know you know it because this is an incredibly bright group. You know about the 48 people just a few months ago that were convicted of $14.6 billion in health care fraud in Texas, right? You all know that you must. And if you don't, it's because it wasn't colored in by the Trump administration. Because this is not about fraud and abuse. This is about the polarization plus politicalization, weaponization, not just a grievance, but weaponization across the board of agencies and weaponization the likes of which we've never seen from an administration in our lifetime.
- [11:52]
Interviewer
Well, let's try to take a step out of the politicization for a moment and talk about your record as governor over the last 11 years. And I know there's lots to be proud of.
- [12:00]
Gavin Newsom
Full term governor, but it's also 11 years. It feels like 11, but it's been just seven. But I appreciate that.
- [12:10]
Interviewer
But it's also, you know, undeniable that we have high housing costs, some of the highest in the nation, high energy costs, among the. Or perhaps the highest unemployment rate in the country. So make the case for us that Californians are better off than they were when you took office.
- [12:25]
Gavin Newsom
Well, I don't know. We, we have the fourth largest economy in the world, not the sixth. We have more Fortune 500 companies than we did since 2019, by the way. Bloomberg data 49. Now it's 58. We dominate $405.6 billion output, 13.9% of the nation's manufacturing. No one comes close. $62.1 billion. Just as it relates to agriculture. On the issue of housing, there's no state. And even some of our most progressive critics, like Ezra Klein acknowledged California's housing policies to finally break through the original sin that goes back decades and decades around the supply, demand, housing imbalance in the state. We're, we're finally making progress in that space. Holding cities and counties accountable through a housing accountability unit. We're moving mountains in that space as it relates to broader issues of this state. We dominate fusion and robotics. You saw just what Elon just said he's going to do to convert his factory with S and X. It's now going to be the new robotics and fusion and nuclear. Advanced nuclear. Obviously in quantum, you all know about AI, there's no peers. You saw last year, venture capital, highest it's ever been. $106 billion. 68 billion last year. 106 this year. Interesting. Close to 70% of those dollars invested back in to the state of California, ucla. Every year they put out a report going back since Ronald Reagan, noting that the unique nature of our economy across a spectrum of reasons and issues, we tend to have a 0.9 to 1.2% higher unemployment rate consistently going back to when Reagan was governor of California than the rest of the nation. Today it's 1.1% higher. You are correct about that. It's a stubborn reality and we can get into that. And the reason I point out those reports is they tend to do it in a remarkable and sophisticated way that goes to the struggle of all of us to reckon but difference. Now we have our first economic and workforce development plan in our state's history around regions rising together. It's 13 economic and workforce development plans. Something I'm very proud of. We spent three years working on. In fact we'll be announcing the latest plan. Didi's here as part of this in Orange county next week. And we continue to try to reconcile the realities in our diverse communities, rural, not just urban communities. The lived reality of people that don't live in the aggregate.
- [14:51]
Interviewer
You know the most important word in politics right now is affordability. Is it still too expensive for average Californians to make ends meet?
- [14:58]
Gavin Newsom
Well, that's why we created a brand new grade preschool for all saving people $18,000. That's why we did the biggest expansion of any state in the United States history on child care subsidies. That's why we created a new product. Not Trump Rx. Should have called a Newsom Rx. Again you would have paid attention. It's called CAL RX$11 insulin. Not to subsidize cost to lower cost. That's why we're coming out with our own diapers which is exciting. I'm excited to make an announcement in that space. It's why we've not doubled. We've almost tripled the earned income tax credits over $1 billion. Allow working families to keep more of their earnings. While we had the largest tax rebate in US history at a state level 18.1 billion. Almost 18.3 depending on how you categorize it. But $18 billion tax rebate to address those costs. That's why we have the most progressive rent controls of any state in America. That's why we're going hard on the supply demand imbalance as it relates to housing. That's why we're starting to address these issues of time to delivery. Some of the most progressive reforms on permitting in our state's history for large scale projects deliver on these large scale projects. We didn't wait for the abundance book to come out on that. We advanced some of those projects years and years ago. Let me give you a proof point because it goes to the energy question. Since 19, I'm in San Francisco. Since 1874 we've installed about 105 gigawatts of electricity in the state. 30.2 since I've been governor. And why do I highlight that? Because it needs to be highlighted. One of the largest installed battery and solar farms in the world, Darden in Fresno county was just approved 2,300 megawatts under the new procurement reforms, under these new regulatory reforms. I'm making the point that we haven't been sitting back on some of these structural issues. I inherited the most blessed and cursed state in America. The day I got into office, the largest utility in the United States was bankrupt. PG and E. That's how I started. We had to dig out of that. And when you dig out of that, yes, that's been the biggest driver, interestingly of utility costs. When you look at the bill. Were the costs related to decades and decades and decades of neglect to address the underlying issues around the hots getting higher, the dry is getting drier climate, but also forest and vegetation management and undergrounding and all those things that we've 10x we haven't played in the margin. $5.3 billion in forest management. When I got here, it was about 200 million a year. Unprecedented investments in this space. Unprecedented responsibility and accountability. At pge, we tie executive compensation to performance on safety. We also just passed on our cap and invest program which we extended to 2045 because we're not walking away from low carbon grain growth. A 60 billion, let me be fair, $56 billion rebate to address costs for utilities. After 11 years. This is the 11. As lieutenant governor and governor, we finally got a deal with other Western states to regionalize our grid. This is one of the big news stories that's gotten some trade attention but will have the impact of allowing us to export more of our green and clean energy, provide more reliability at a lower cost. We estimate a billion dollars a year savings through that for electricity. And we also just advanced our nation leading energy efficiency programs under Title 24. $4.8 billion projected savings. So we're not sitting on that issue as well.
- [18:44]
Interviewer
Two quick follow ups because I want to move on. You mentioned PG and E. Should the PG and E monopoly in California be broken up?
- [18:50]
Gavin Newsom
Well, PG and E is a very different company than it was prior to bankruptcy. I'm more satisfied under 1054. That was the framework and the rubric to which we created a statutory requirement. As exampled in my comments a moment ago around executive compensation being tied to safety. We also have the clawback in that, which I will remind people of a receivership where the state can actually assert control statutorily in that law. That I passed and we organized to take back control if they're not performing.
- [19:26]
Interviewer
So you're saying no because accountability does exist.
- [19:29]
Gavin Newsom
Accountability is a persistent issue and continues to need to be improved. But I'm not convinced, and forgive me, I'm not, that a state that finally has turned and is turning dme around wants to get in the utility business.
- [19:49]
Interviewer
And you also mentioned permitting reform this morning. I think the president issued an executive order. He is. He believes that the state is not moving fast enough on permitting to recover from the LA fires.
- [20:00]
Gavin Newsom
Helpful. Well, give me one thing the state hasn't done to address an expedite permitting. There's nothing state doesn't do, local permitting. I mean, this is the same president, United States President of the United States, that said he waived all federal permitting. We said, sir, which federal permit for local construction?
- [20:18]
Interviewer
When I came down here, he was talking about this in his cabinet meeting.
- [20:20]
Gavin Newsom
It's madness. I mean, it's actual madness. And it's what more madness is there's no accountability. It's not called out. I mean, it's just so preposterous, so ludicrous, it's hard for me to even respond. What he's responding to is tonality of frustration because there's been 2,981 permits that have been approved so far as of this week. That's how I start every week, with updated permits. And by the way, stress test that 2,981, by the way, it's 385 a year later in Maui, or rather, forgive me, in paradise, which had 16,000 units, roughly equivalent about 14,000 in Los Angeles. 385 a year later approved in Paradise. 2,981. Over 1,000 units under construction as we speak. In LA. It's been just over a year. No one's happy, no one's satisfied. But it's unprecedented. Just as was the cleanup done in six months. Unprecedented. You have a dozen houses that are already occupied, which is remarkable. Again, not good enough. So tonally he expressed that frustration, signed an executive order that has, in the vernacular of San Francisco and San Franciscans, the form and substance of fog. There's no there there. It literally is meaningless. Actually, the only thing meaningful is he calls for an audit of his own federal agency, which I think was a good idea. And the also meaningful thing is that he refuses to meaningfully address the issue for recovery. And that is the gaps between your insurance, the cost of construction, which has gone up because of his tariffs and his mass deportations, and the impacts of those things by providing to Congress a letter, simple letter, for supplemental appropriation of $33.9 billion, which is what the state is asking on behalf of the American people that happen to reside in Southern California. Interestingly, on that, to their credit, Republican leaders in Congress, not just Democratic leaders, including yesterday, are calling on the president to send that disaster supplemental on behalf of the American people. And I could not be more proud of those leaders. In fact, one of them tragically passed away. And I was at his memorial a few days ago. Doug lamalfa, man of principle, of character, extraordinary American, also supported my recall. Doug, but he's a good man, was remarkable. Wife Jill. Speaker Johnson was there. Fortunately, he used to walk right by me. I couldn't have a chance to get. He gave beautiful remarks, he really did about Doug. And he talked in principled terms, just not reflected in the work he does when he's in Washington D.C. sadly.
- [23:04]
Interviewer
So Governor, I want to talk about Davos first and then the wealth tax in the next 10 minutes. Before we open this up to questions. I believe the Secretary of Treasury said you were frolicking in Davos recently, but Canadian Prime Minister, he was as well. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, I don't.
- [23:21]
Gavin Newsom
Know as well, but I appreciate that.
- [23:23]
Interviewer
Yeah, Mark Carney gave a powerful speech. A lot of people watched it saying that the rules based global order is over. And I wonder if you agree with that and how the next president might repair some of these relationships.
- [23:36]
Gavin Newsom
I had a chance to meet with Carney interestingly right before the speech and forgive me, I hope you guys have taken a look, maybe you've reported about it. Just a few days ago, the Foreign Minister of India gave a speech that was very similar to Carney's. India just made a deal with the EU on tariffs. 20 years they've been talking about it. They weren't even talking to each other. And now with the friction that Trump has created, they've now brought the mother, as the EU President said, the mother of all trade deals together. And they did it in real time, building on what they did in South America with the eu. I mean this wrecking ball presidency is jaw dropping in real time. So it goes to your question about what Carney said about that rupture. It's real truth trust. I talked to dozens and dozens of European leaders, presidents from countries across the globe had the opportunity to run in to to people from countries I read about. I confess I can't even pronounce some of them. Universal condemnation. They said sometimes you were unpredictable but never this unreliable, It's a wrecking ball presidency.
- [24:57]
Interviewer
Should the next president offer an apology to our allies?
- [25:00]
Gavin Newsom
Look, apology is a loaded term in American politics. Obama's on an apology tour. So I appreciate the frame, but you show respect. These are allies. You also show respect for the fact that we are the envy of the world. I mean, your headline's not mine. I mean, just a year ago, our economy was the enemy of the world. We continue from a global perspective, share of GDP continue to outperform decades and decades because of these transatlantic alliances, because of our trade and security relationships, particularly with our European allies, We're destroying all that in real time. I think it was Sam Rayburn who said, you know, any fool or idiot can break down a barn door, but it takes a great carpenter to build one. Destruction is not strength, it's weakness. Weakness masquerading as strength. That's all Trump is, weakness masquerading as strength. And so it will take its strength of character, it will take leadership to be repairers of that breach. And it will take some time to restore trust. But I'm a little more confident we can, based upon just my observations, but also the interactions. I was with leaders from Spain just yesterday. I continue to have the privilege representing the fourth largest economy in the world, to engage with MOUs from people around the world. Again, open hand, not a closed fist. Sub national relationship, stable, strong partner. California, unstable, unpredictable. The federal government. But he'll Trump be known in years. He's got a few years left. Even if his state of mind is to extend his term and have competitive authoritarian election like Putin, his time alive suggests this term will be up in three. And that gives us an opportunity to turn the proverbial page.
- [26:48]
Interviewer
By the way, one report from Davos that did surprise me was the suggestion that you had a very kind of amiable interchange with the President and his staff behind the scenes. And he said, gavin, you're good. And so how do we. Tell us your version of that? And how do we reconcile the public animosity and maybe the private backslapping?
- [27:08]
Gavin Newsom
My wife is here. We had a close to a 20 minute conversation with Trump the night before he federalized the guard, where he just literally lied and said, he read me the riot act. And Jim said, my God, that went well. Must have. I said, I know. I was like laughing. I was smiling the whole time. I kept trying to bring up la. He had no interest in la, wanted to talk about how many hats he had sold. He goes, what do you think of new scum? He says, this is right the night before he federalized National Guard. I said, hey, yeah. What do you think of new scum? It's pretty good, isn't it? I say. He goes. And I paused. He said, it's original news scum. I said, well, it's not really original. There was literally a guy in seventh grade on Baltimore street used to call me that. And he goes, well, yeah, but how about maga? I said, well, that's pretty good, but that's not original either. And he got a little upset because I mentioned Ronald Reagan. And I mentioned, even Meg Whitman, make California great again. And he goes, no. How many hats you think I sold? I said, I don't know. He goes, hundreds of hats. That's amazing, sir. It's amazing. So it's not amazing to me that we had that interaction. It should amaze all of you that the President of the United States, you know, operates as he does. And I continue. I said it this morning on my team. I mean, they mentioned we have our morning meetings, our staff meetings, and, you know, there were three or four things, Izzy, that you brought up today. I said, why'd you bury the lead? And it's just because it's just. It's shock and awe every single day. Nothing can be normalized. But our relationship, strangely, is normal, personally.
- [28:44]
Interviewer
Okay, let me ask about the wealth tax, and then we'll open this up. So folks in this room probably know the California Health Care Union has proposed a wealth tax on the 200 billionaires in the state. 5% of their net worth over five years. You've come out against it. But what they're trying to address, what they say they're trying to address, is a shortfall in Medi cal caused by HR1, the one big beautiful act. Do you agree that Medi Cal. That the state health care system is endangered by this federal law, and what should we do about it if not a wealth tax?
- [29:16]
Gavin Newsom
Yeah, HR1 is a disaster. I mean, just talk about your kids and grandkids are sad enough. Debt burden, interest rates, instability. I mean, I saw the same Besson guy would say, well, the deficit's down a couple. He didn't even mention the cost of the big beautiful bill and how that's going to impact the debt. So what do we.
- [29:37]
Interviewer
What do we. If not asking the richest among us to pay?
- [29:39]
Gavin Newsom
What do we do? Well, we do. California is the most progressive tax structure in the United States of America.
- [29:44]
Interviewer
There are billionaires who are sitting on equity, who don't sell it, that are.
- [29:49]
Gavin Newsom
Paying those progressive taxes. We have the highest progressive tax rate in the United States of America. I long believe in that. I did sit a state of the state arguing in favor of it. And it should many ways be a model for reforms that we need to see federally. That said, I fear the way this has been drafted and I'm old fashioned actually seek first to understand before I'm understood sometimes and I was burdened by the facts. The fact is it actually will reduce investments in education. It will reduce investments in teachers and librarians, child care. It will reduce investments in firefighting and police. The impact of a one time tax does not solve an ongoing structural challenge that has been exacerbated by the impacts of HR1. In fact, what it will do is what the Legislative Analyst office said it would do. Which didn't surprise any of us when they put that out. You would have a windfall one time and then over the years you would see a significant reduction in taxes because taxpayers will move. And that is what I fear. At a state level. At a state level, Right.
- [31:12]
Interviewer
So would you support a national bank?
- [31:14]
Gavin Newsom
I think you can have. That's an interesting conversation. It's a challenging. There's some constitutional issues around takings. There's impact as it relates to the flow of capital. The impacts on the market which are not inconsequential. If you told me you're going to have a one time. Where do you Mark to market. How do you audit? Do we go in and find out for those that are in this tax bracket. When did you buy your Basquiat? You sure it was 1971 or was 1991? Markets have adjusted. Where's the wine collection? Sir? Let me look again. Hold on. Mark to market. Wait a second. So you haven't sold your stuff. All these things. It gets complicated. I'm not suggesting. I'm not here to belittle it. Argue. I think the imbalance. I said at the state of the state. The imbalance between the rich and the poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics. That was Plutarch 2000 years ago. 10% of people own 2/3 of the wealth in the United States of America. This is not working. 30 year olds never done worse 30 year old today than any generation in history. This is not working. You've got to democratize our economy if you're going to save democracy. Absolutely. But this proposal by one local in SEIU I do not believe is.
- [32:25]
Interviewer
Will it get to the ballot?
- [32:27]
Gavin Newsom
They have the money. I don't. You know and we'll see. Yeah. This is there's a lot of leverage in this. I think he's got three ballot initiatives. This is, by the way, someone said to me, you need to veto this. I said, well, I can't because it's not legislative. And by the way, the legislature's not promoting this. This is an individual with money. And so I had someone, you'll appreciate this true story. It was a zoom with a bunch of fancy folks and outraged. We've got to reform just direct democracy. Anyone could get something on the ballot. I said, just like you got the recall on the ballot. Yeah, he dropped off the screen.
- [33:06]
Interviewer
And by the way, you go a long way back with a lot of these fancy folks. Like, how do you talk to them about leaving the state? And do they reckon with the inequality in the tax code and the need for them to some level to pay more?
- [33:18]
Gavin Newsom
Yeah, look, I mean, there's some extraordinarily enlightened people in that category and there's some that they put a mask on and their face is growing into it.
- [33:26]
Interviewer
And by the way, let me just be more specific. What do you tell Sergei when he says I'm moving to Incline or to Reno? Are you disappointed by that?
- [33:35]
Gavin Newsom
Yeah, of course. But obviously I think they're disappointed in some respect as well. I mean, it's just a lot of anxiety out there. And look, you know, I believe in a progressive tax system. I've championed a progressive tax system. I've defended it formally and informally and will continue to. And I do believe this economy is broken. And I do believe there is a reason. There are a lot of Bernie supporters that are also Trump supporters. A lot of Trump supporters supporters that are also Bernie Sanders supporters. And that is something we should absorb and understand. And so I'm not defending the status quo by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, our entire agenda is around growth and inclusion. That's why we do have a minimum wage of $20, but not at Walmart, but at fast food restaurants. That's why we do have a $25 minimum wage hygienation for health care workers. No other state can lay claim to that. In fact, 20 states have a minimum wage at $7.25 still today in this country. That's madness. That's why we did the earned income tax credit. It's why increase paid family leave. That's why increase paid sick leave. That's why we've done a brand new grade preschool for all. That's why we've done historic expansions for child care. That's why we're doing more in health care, the largest healthcare expansion in the country that is also putting pressure on our Medicaid budget, there's no question about that, to absorb and offset that anxiety and stress. But, but I do think this is unfortunate. And, and we'll, you know, continue to make a case for alternative strategies.
- [35:14]
Interviewer
Okay, thank you, Governor. Let's take a few questions from the audience. There's two microphones. Please state your name and your affiliation.
- [35:19]
Audience Member/Reporter
Sure. Lily Jamali with BBC News. Nice to see everybody on the billionaire tax proposal. I just wondered if you have actually engaged with any of the billionaires who have threatened or have left for months.
- [35:32]
Gavin Newsom
Months.
- [35:32]
Audience Member/Reporter
And what have those conversations been like?
- [35:34]
Gavin Newsom
Can you give us some specific as you would suggest? This is, to me, it's so, it's just become a story, even though for me it was an issue we've been tackling for five or six months and now it's become, it's an, it's just interesting to me for so many different reasons. So, yeah, no, I've engaged with the proponent of it directly, indirectly. My staff consistently is working with the person that's championing this. I've met with people that feel they're being attacked because of it. People that have no problem paying more income tax, people that literally are giving away all of their money but want to do it on the timeline that their family is approved, not this individual's timeline. People that are concerned about losing control of their company because of the unique characteristics of their cash situation. Yes, I've met with all of them and they're all in different stages of their lives, careers and their abundance. And some will never give a penny away. Some I respect, some I don't, some I never have. But I've met with those as well. Proofpoint, one of the people that was out there promoting my recall. Yet I still reached out and met with those folks because I'm very mindful as a guy who budgets for this state that we rely on a very small number of people that allows us to do historic things. For example, with behavioral health, which is probably one of the most exciting stories that has been under reported in California, the investments we're making to reform our behavioral system. There's a connection and by the way, that's a literal connection because we have a millionaires tax that also funds our Mental Health Services act and it provides an abundance of resources and investments in this space.
- [37:35]
Interviewer
Hey, Governor Jeremy Webb with Politico. Thanks for taking my question.
- [37:38]
Gavin Newsom
Mayor Matt Mahan of San Jose is now running for governor.
- [37:41]
Interviewer
He's a guy who's criticized elected Democrats in the state. And you specifically, I'm wondering how you.
- [37:47]
Gavin Newsom
Feel about a Democrat running succeed you seemingly running a campaign in Congress. I don't know enough about him. I don't. I wish him good luck.
- [37:56]
Interviewer
He said you've jumped blindly into meme land. I believe was a quote.
- [38:02]
Gavin Newsom
Well, I've tried to put a mirror up. I don't know that quote. I think it's been important what we've done. Put a mirror up to the aberrant behavior of Donald Trump.
- [38:12]
Interviewer
Do you think Mayhem's done a good job in San Jose?
- [38:14]
Gavin Newsom
And I think part of putting a mirror up to that aberrant behavior has allowed me to drive a conversation that I couldn't drive in the past. And it's a conversation that is style, undoubtedly, but also substance. 53 lawsuits wildly successful in that space. Organizing with other governors, strategies to not just defend ourselves, but go on the offense. Let me give you an example. The west coast offense with governors of other Western states for health care, Reproductive Freedom alliance that we've organized. Our engagement with the who. I was meeting with the president of the WHO in Davos. We saw JB Pritzker entering that. The work we're doing coordinating with other AGs on strategies related to what's happening and occurring today in Minneapolis and Minnesota, the fact that we're working directly with Governor Walt's office on amicus briefs related to their litigation strategies, all of that's part and parcel of the approach that we've taken.
- [39:17]
Audience Member/Reporter
Hi, my name is Shree Mupiti. I'm a reporter at the information at CoverAI. My question is, do you think we're in AI bubble? And how do you foresee this playing out? Last night I reported that Nvidia, Microsoft and Amazon are investing up to 60 billion in OpenAI. And so I'm curious about sort of all these interlinked circular deals and what.
- [39:38]
Interviewer
Do you mean and by the way, an amendment, because it's a great question. What would it mean for California if we are in the budget?
- [39:43]
Gavin Newsom
Well, we're mindful of that. It's why we're, you know, in our January budget. The real show of our budget will be may because of the abundance of this moment. I mean, I just saw our December numbers which went through the roof. Our January numbers were in a very different place than we were just literally a few weeks ago when we announced our budget. Because the nature of the capital gains, the income tax revenue, because of this moment. Look, it was interesting. I was on so many different panels. I participated in these closed conversations around the issue of AI and surprisingly overseas. But of course that's what we all do here, seemingly on an hourly basis, not on a daily basis. And the interactions we have. Are we in a bubble? Are we not in a bubble? And everyone's perspective. Larry Fink had his version of no, we're not. Others would suggest that we are. But the end of the day, the boom bust will lead to this sort of infrastructure, this new platform that will change everything in more ways on more days. And fundamentally on the other side of that is a little bit more optimism. But in the short term, the situation, there'll be winners and losers. To your point, we are the beneficiary. The country is the beneficiary. You saw outperforming consumer spending as it relates to GDP in this country. I mean this is the only thing Donald Trump has going for him right now. Personally too, because the crony capitalism, the Seth dealing that he's doing in this space, crypto in the AI space. But it's a really exciting enlivening time. California, as you know, is the first state to lead in terms of doing regulations for frontier models, like large language models. We worked through that over a two year process. It's become we think. I don't want to overstate it, but Kathy Hochul mirrored a lot of what we did. She made it her own in New York. In some ways it may have the tenets of becoming a national model. We take it very seriously. Truth, trust, peril, promise. But I don't see it in binary terms. I'm not an accelerist or nor am I doomer in this respect. And maybe it's because I spend too much time with all of the flavors of perspectives on this. So I can see the contours. But I also know this. We don't know what we don't know. But I do see the need for us to address the issue of anxiety in a deep and profound way. And that's why we've been leading an effort which we hope to unveil very shortly on ubc. Not universal basic income mincum the old construct, but this notion of universal basic capital. A lot of folks talking about sovereign wealth funds more challenging than it appears to do that. I've been working to try to figure a version of that out. But universally basic capital is important pre distribution strategies, not just redistribution strategies. Tenants and aspects for the California economy. Your question that we're trying to shape more on that we hope in May and June of this year as we lay out some tracks for resolving some of that anxiety going forward, let's try.
- [42:31]
Interviewer
To get to two more.
- [42:33]
Audience Member/Reporter
Hi Governor. Thanks for taking our questions. You and the attorney general released guidance this week saying that state and local law and law enforcement have the authority to investigate violations of state law by federal officers. And there's also a proposal in the legislature this year that would require the state attorney general to investigate shootings by federal officers. So do you think that that should be a mandate and should it be the responsibility of state law enforcement or.
- [43:10]
Gavin Newsom
Well, we have great partnerships. You know, I've been very proud. We worked with the legislature, did something never been done in California. We provided state grants for prosecution, $267 million to 55 LEAs local law enforcement agencies for investigations and prosecution. So we believe localism is determinative as it relates to local independent district attorneys. There's obviously role of our Department of Justice at the AG level, but needs to be determined on the basis of the facts on the ground. Your question as it relates to legislation, as you know well, tend not to opine about pending legislation in real process as that process unfolds. But I appreciate you referencing something that I'm not sure many states have done, if any. And that was the guidance we put out in partnership with the AG reminding local DAs and local law enforcement officials of their authority vested in them under state law to move forward with prosecutions. It's limited in scope. We're not naive about federal rules and preemption, by the way that's being tested in the courts. I signed the first bill in the country on unmasking for federal agencies for federal agents, which is also part of the discussion of whether or not we have a government shutdown. And I think it's an important one. I think they should take the masks off. You want to build trust. You want to build a sense of community. Again, this idea that we have have a private police force that seems to have taken an oath of office to the president, not the Constitution. This paramilitary outfit scares the hell out of me and I imagine scares the hell out of you and sure as hell has communities on edge all across this country. Unmasking would be one of the primary reforms. We should advance one more. Thanks.
- [44:56]
Interviewer
Ellie Kamisher with Bloomberg. Good to see you again. A couple other pieces of legislation. One would ban ICE officials from applying or getting California public employee jobs. Another one would tax immigration centers in California. So wondering if you support any of those or what is kind of your constructive proposal.
- [45:16]
Gavin Newsom
We've looked at that. And we've looked at that before the legislative proposal and we've looked through. I don't want to get. I'm now literally seen my legal memo in my mind on the proposal. I want to be careful not to opine on that. But it is pending. It's something we had already considered and we'll see where the legislation lays out. But there are some legal parameters that have to be worked through on both of those.
- [45:44]
Interviewer
Before I let you go Governor, at the beginning of next year you will be a 59 year old unemployed man. Jennifer, there's nothing.
- [45:51]
Gavin Newsom
Will I be 59? Yeah.
- [45:52]
Interviewer
There's nothing sadder.
- [45:53]
Gavin Newsom
That's not even middle age. That's the other side.
- [45:56]
Interviewer
So what? Any plans for 2027?
- [46:00]
Gavin Newsom
I'm just so hurt by your question. I'm so struck by it.
- [46:03]
Interviewer
I believe it was factual.
- [46:05]
Gavin Newsom
I know I'm a milk carton with a sell by date and that's why all these questions about who's next and all that are uncomfortable. And let me apologize to Jerry Brown for all the little things I said and did when I was sitting there chopping at his knees and feet and working to get in his office. But this has been a privilege and I'm going to run the 110 yard dash. And if anyone sees evidence that I'm not, I got some work to do. But I think there's plenty of evidence that I am. You know, I've got an OKR process, it's well established that's the bane of existence. All my poor department heads and you know, you can see what we got quarter by quarter and all the work we want to do to finish the job and navigate in this treacherous environment, I want to be held to a higher level of accountability. I know some people say, well just not your job to get out in front. Talk about the way the world is and should be. I think it is my job. I have a moral authority that I need to bring to this conversation. Not just the formal role as governor of California, but also representative. You know, a state where 27% of us are foreign born. Size of 21 state populations combined. We're a global state, we're an international. I mean we are universal state in every way, shape or form. What's happening around the globe impacts California disproportionately. Number one in two way trade, number one in direct foreign investment. Look at the ports. 40% of our goods movement down in LA, Long Beach. All of this directly impacts us. And I think anyone running for governor and auditioning for governor needs to be reminded of that as well. It's a big part of the job. Enroll. Ask farmers, ask the ranchers whose tax burden has gotten worse, not better since Donald Trump has become president. With these regressive taxes and tariffs and the trade policies and all the damage we've done globally, overseas, these are direct issues. And so it's really important, I think. And so that's my mindset and we'll see where fate brings things. One thing I am, and this is important too. I'm also a small business guy and most of you don't know that or don't care, but I started right out of college. Pen to paper. One part time employee, Pat Kelly started about 21 small businesses, restaurants, hotels and wineries. At peak, about a thousand folks. Not saying that to impress anybody, but to impress upon you. Passionate entrepreneur. You know, when people start, you know, Democrats don't understand P and LS and I mean, yeah, spare me, spare me. Live and breathe this. It's been in a blind trust. It's been frustrating. Not that it matters anymore. I should be out here promoting in fact the business, the way the president is operating. I am promoting my Patriot shop, which has the knee pads available and maybe even a clone that we may be working on. It smells like success. At least that's. Well, that's Trump's cologne. Forgive me that he's hawking, but I have a few identities. But public service is the most precious and no matter what happens, that is never going to escape me. And that just may be me out there volunteering and working with Jen and her nonprofit on gender equality or may manifest differently, who knows.
- [49:20]
Interviewer
Governor, thank you for joining us.
- [49:21]
Gavin Newsom
Good to be with you. Thank you. How do you shift AI from being a flashy feature to a trusted partner in consumers everyday lives on the ground at CES Bloomberg Media Studios, asked Michael McDermott, EVP of Samsung. Our 2026 vision is built around an AI companion. It understands you and responds intuitively. This intelligence works quietly in the background across TVs, home appliances, mobile devices. By putting AI at the center of everything we do, we're simply improving everyday life for everyone everywhere.