Newsom waves away Trump-Musk implosion

Politico

2 days ago

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DRIVING THE DAY: The messy breakup of President Donald Trump and Elon Musk today consumed social media and had House Republicans worried about the future of their budget megabill.
Musk — angry about the 'big beautiful bill' that's now in the Senate — has begun using his X platform to share increasingly unhinged messages about the president, saying he should be impeached and that his tariffs will cause a recession. He also suggested without evidence the president was implicated in wrongdoing with the late sex predator Jeffrey Epstein.
It has long been public that Trump — along with other prominent figures, like Bill Clinton — is referenced in documents released in court cases surrounding Epstein. But Trump is not accused of any wrongdoing linked to Epstein.
Trump, in turn, threatened to cut billions of dollars worth of government contracts with Musk's companies.
'The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon's Governmental Subsidies and Contracts,' Trump said on Truth Social.
Meanwhile, House Speaker Mike Johnson is working to rebut Musk's attacks and preserve his body's legislation, our Meredith Lee Hill reports.
During a news conference today, Gov. Gavin Newsom urged against becoming distracted by the ongoing beef.
'I hope for all those folks out there that are so consumed by personalities — who's up, who's down, what Elon Musk tweeted today and what Trump said tomorrow — can focus on what matters,' he said.
— with help from Eric He
INCREDIBLE JOURNEY: David Lin is back home in Orange County after spending almost 20 years behind bars in China on what both Lin and the U.S. government called a bogus fraud charge. Lin — one of three U.S. citizens that the State Department considered 'arbitrarily detained' by Beijing — came home in September through one of two prisoner swaps that the Biden administration negotiated last year.
POLITICO wrote of the pressure facing Newsom to seek Lin's release during a 2023 trip to China.
The 69-year old Lin — a Taiwan-born evangelical pastor — ran afoul of Chinese authorities in 2006 while doing religious work in the country outside of the Chinese Communist Party's tightly controlled official churches.
Lin is the first of those three former U.S. hostages of the Chinese government to speak to the media about his experience. In an exclusive interview with Phelim Kine, POLITICO's China correspondent, he talked about the hardship of his years in Beijing's No. 2 Prison — and trying to put his life back together since his release.
How were you treated?
The guards couldn't speak English, and I was on what they call the 'foreign prisoner team.' People from Africa, United Kingdom, Canada, from everywhere. So I translated between the prisoners and the guards. The guards treated me like I was their helper. Maybe slightly better than other people. Because they used me.
What were the hardest things about being in prison?
I couldn't freely preach the gospel. I couldn't freely pray and worship God. I couldn't communicate with my family, so my wife, daughter and son were so worried about me. And there wasn't enough food. The prison guards tried their best, but they didn't have enough of a budget — for one month of food for all three meals, prisoners were allocated only 320 yuan (US$44).
Did the U.S. government do enough to get you home?
I know the U.S. government tried their best for me. I know they negotiated for almost six years back and forth. President (Donald) Trump in his first term and President Joe Biden all negotiated with China for a long, long time. But they never agreed [to release me]. The U.S. side would say 'You arrested the wrong person,' but the Chinese government always denied it.
Newsom drew some flak for not more vocally criticizing China's human rights violations, including your case, during his climate-focused trip to China in 2023. Do you think he did enough to try to get you released?
U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns later told me that Governor Newsom talked to Chairman Xi Jinping about me. I appreciate whatever he did. I know he did his best.
What are the challenges of adjusting to life back home in California?
When I came back, I didn't have anything. Because I'd been away for two decades. My house had been foreclosed on. My clothes had been thrown away. And I can't get Social Security because they say I need another six points to qualify. That means I have to work maybe another three years.
I need to adapt to modern-day communications — like this Teams meeting. Meetings never happened this way before. And I need to learn from the beginning how to go shopping, how to use a credit card, all kinds of things — from scratch. And food and transportation seem so expensive.
What's your advice to U.S. citizens considering traveling to China?
I believe now is not a good time for people to go there.
IT'S THURSDAY AFTERNOON. This is California Playbook PM, a POLITICO newsletter that serves as an afternoon temperature check on California politics and a look at what our policy reporters are watching. Got tips or suggestions? Shoot an email to [e-mail].
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY
TURNING TASSELS: Former Vice President Kamala Harris turned up at Compton High School's graduation today, with some students wondering whether her black SUV belonged to Beyoncé, our Melanie Mason reports.
Harris didn't give a speech during her surprise visit this morning, but she spent the entirety of the hour-long ceremony on stage before the nearly 300 graduates and their families who filled the bleachers of the new campus' football field.
It was par for the course for Harris in her post-vice-presidential limbo. More than six months after her defeat, Harris is mostly eschewing overt political gatherings, opting instead for cameos that reveal little about her political future.
'It's not often you get somebody from Compton North — Oakland — hanging out with us here in the CPT,' said Micah Ali, president of the Compton Unified school board, from the stage. He later gave her an honorary degree as the 'first graduate' of the school's new campus.
Harris was invited to the celebration by Myshay Causey, a senior and student board member of the Compton Unified School District who is headed to Cornell University in the fall. In April, Causey worked at an event attended by Douglas Emhoff, the former second gentleman, and handed him a handwritten note for his wife that described how Harris had inspired her.
IN OTHER NEWS
BOTTLE CAP BATTLE: State Sen. Steve Padilla had a retort for former Orange County Rep. Katie Porter after she used his bill to require attached caps on plastic bottles as an example of California overregulation.
'LA is literally on fire, and that is what a legislator is working on,' Porter told Playbook after last night's gubernatorial debate. 'I would love to work with that legislator on his goal of reducing plastic waste. … He's focusing on the wrong thing. I want him to think bigger.'
Padilla fired back with a response that included '#AtkinsforGovernor,' referencing Porter's opponent, former Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins.
'In California, serious leaders know we can fight fires AND pollution,' Padilla said in an X post. 'And we don't even need a whiteboard to get it done. #AtkinsforGovernor #ScrewedOnStraight'
MOPPING A FLOOD WITH A SPONGE: Prominent Los Angeles city officials are scheduled to tout the city's shiny new LAX/Metro Transit Center Station tomorrow afternoon. The station — which will connect Metro's C and K lines as well as several bus routes — is designed to more easily connect Angelenos to the city's massive and hard-to-reach airport.
They also hope it will help shuttle the masses of tourists that are expected to visit Los Angeles for a slew of events including the 2026 Fifa World Cup, the 2027 Super Bowl and the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic games.
Los Angeles has committed itself to a 'transit-first' Olympic Games. But the transit expansion has been met with funding gaps and still-unanswered requests for state and federal dollars. Most recently, Newsom sidestepped a request to set aside $2 billion for funding to help the state's financially struggling transit systems.
Those scheduled to be in attendance include Mayor Karen Bass, City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson and multiple county supervisors. — Nicole Norman
WHAT WE'RE READING TODAY
— The Glendale City Jail is housing at least two people detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The city says it isn't violating SB 54, the state law that prohibits local law enforcement agencies from assisting federal immigration officers. (Los Angeles Times)
— ICE detained at least 15 people who came to their scheduled check-ins at the agency's San Francisco office. (San Francisco Chronicle)
— Clovis spent $21,000 in police overtime to cover protests over a transgender athlete who was allowed to compete in track and field championships this past weekend. (The Fresno Bee)
AROUND THE STATE
— Walnut Creek's Chamber of Commerce has paired with Arrivalist, a travel-industry tech company, to use the mobile locations of people who visit to provide them with data on customer behavior. (San Jose Mercury News)
— Eric Levitt, the current city manager of Fullerton, has been appointed to be the new city manager of San Bernardino. (The Press-Enterprise)
— compiled by Nicole Norman