In the ongoing saga of tension between California and the Trump administration, Thursday might have set a new record.
The U.S. Education Department revealed early in the morning on the West Coast that it would contest a significant state law designed to protect transgender students. Just two hours later, federal waivers that had allowed California colleges to include undocumented students in specific federally aided programs were revoked.
Later in the day, a flurry of inquiries into alleged affirmative action practices in California higher education ensued: The Justice Department announced it would investigate whether Stanford University and three University of California schools were violating a Supreme Court ruling that prohibited the consideration of race in admissions. Additionally, the Health and Human Services Department stated it was examining claims of similar discrimination at a “major medical school in California.”
By evening, the Agriculture Department had sent a letter to Governor Gavin Newsom indicating it would reassess its education-related funding in California concerning transgender protections. Furthermore, the Justice Department declared that the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department was under investigation for allegedly delaying approvals for concealed-carry permit applications.
Neither California nor President Trump ever pretended to have a friendly relationship. During his first term, the state, which leans heavily Democratic, initiated over 120 lawsuits against Mr. Trump’s administration. Californians overwhelmingly rejected him in the 2020 and 2024 presidential elections — results Mr. Trump baselessly attributed to voter fraud.
The reasons behind the sudden influx of attention to California this week remain unclear, raising questions about whether it was planned or coincidental. The White House did not respond immediately on Friday to a request for comment.
Governor Newsom also declined to comment. A spokesperson, Izzy Gardon, mentioned that the governor was “focused on Los Angeles’s recovery.”
Senator Adam B. Schiff, a Democrat who led Trump’s first impeachment, claimed that the president harbored a “partisan vendetta against California” and was “continuing to weaponize the federal government against the one in ten Americans” residing in the state of over 39 million people.
Supporters of Trump in California expressed their approval.
“Extreme policies and uncontrolled one-party governance have compromised the quality of life throughout our state,” stated Representative Kevin Kiley, a Republican from California. “All Californians will benefit from increased accountability. We need balance and common sense.”
Conversely, other California officials and legal experts argued that the investigations seemed to be legally dubious and politically motivated.
“His grasp of the law and adherence to it is questionable at best,” remarked California’s Attorney General, Rob Bonta, a Democrat. He noted that the state was on track to sue the Trump administration nearly double as many times as it did during the president’s initial term, potentially exceeding 200 times over the next four years. Thus far, California has sued the administration eight times in eight weeks.
Since Trump assumed office this year, he has consistently targeted Democratic strongholds.
Last month, he criticized the governor of Maine regarding the state’s protections for transgender athletes and initiated investigations into its educational system. This week, he enacted an executive order establishing a “D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force” to bolster police presence in Washington, enhance immigration enforcement, streamline concealed-carry license approvals, and address subway fare evasion. Local officials countered that crime rates in the district have decreased.
“It’s evident, from the pattern of investigations, that ‘blue’ states, particularly California, are being targeted,” said Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the law school at the University of California, Berkeley, one of the institutions under review by Attorney General Pam Bondi.
“Some of this is likely due to differing policies and values,” Mr. Chemerinsky added. “However, a portion is likely retribution, appealing to his political base.”
Political analysts expressed surprise that it took this long for the Trump administration to act against California. For months, state Democrats have been preparing for an anticipated Republican onslaught against its influential policies regarding D.E.I., gun control, immigration, equity in college admissions, and L.G.B.T.Q. rights.
Some public affairs experts speculated that the administration had intended to make an example of California immediately upon the president’s inauguration, but held back following catastrophic fires in Los Angeles on January 7, less than two weeks prior. Mr. Trump incorrectly implied in his inaugural address that state authorities had left LA vulnerable to wildfires “without a defense,” though he refrained from weaponizing the issue in the lead-up to his presidency.
After Mr. Newsom’s press office contradicted Mr. Trump on social media with images of firefighters battling blazes and rescuing frightened residents, the president shifted to a false narrative claiming state protections for endangered fish had affected water availability for firefighting. In late January, the administration purposely released a substantial amount of federal irrigation water nearly 200 miles north of Los Angeles as the president stated on social media that if California had heeded his advice years earlier, “there would have been no fire!”
The water had no direct link to the infrastructure supplying Los Angeles County, and over a billion gallons ended up stagnating in a low-lying area of the Central Valley, eliciting complaints from farmers, many of whom had supported Mr. Trump, about the implications for summer irrigation resources.
As fire victims in the Los Angeles region work towards rebuilding, criticisms directed at the state have become politically more viable.
Jason Elliott, a Democratic political consultant and former advisor to Newsom, characterized Thursday’s attack on California as a familiar tactic for Mr. Trump to reenergize his base and divert attention from bipartisan dissent surrounding tariffs, Elon Musk, and controversies involving discussions of military strategies on Signal.
“It’s clear someone jolted them awake, and they realized that culture wars are their only remaining strategy,” Mr. Elliott remarked. “They reverted to the only playbook they know how to operate from.”
