In January, when he presented his preliminary budget for the 2025-2026 fiscal year, California Governor Gavin Newsom projected a surplus of $363 million (€322 million). Four months – and a change in president – later, the Democrat is now preparing for a $12 billion deficit. He blamed the effect of Donald Trump and the so-called "Trump slump," the slowdown in economic activity caused by the uncertainty surrounding the US president's agenda.

On Wednesday, May 14, Newsom unveiled his revised budget. He began by highlighting California's performance as the richest and most populous state in the United States, despite constant attacks by Republicans against its high taxes, strict regulations and homelessness crisis. We don't brag enough, said the governor, who has presidential ambitions for 2028 and hopes to shed his image as a liberal disconnected from Middle America by the end of his term in 2026.

Newsom noted that, according to the International Monetary Fund, California had overtaken Japan in terms of gross domestic product (now $4.1 trillion). If it were a country, it would be the world's fourth-largest economy, behind the US, China and Germany. In 2024, its growth reached 6%. The state accounts for 18% of global research and development budgets. "We simply have no peers," he stressed.

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