Gavin Newsom goes global: why US voters should beware

Gavin Newsom’s global travel itinerary looks more like that of a foreign minister than the governor of a state in crisis. 

Newsom was just in Munich, hobnobbing with world leaders, rather than home working to make life more affordable for those who elected him.

The foreign photo-op is part of a pattern: The governor is all show, no action when it comes to delivering for Californians.

In the last year alone, Newsom — perhaps with the 2028 presidential election in mind — has joined the World Economic Forum in Davos, trekked to the Amazon for the UN Climate Conference, and jetted off to Hong Kong in various attempts to make headlines. 

While the governor fashions himself a substitute diplomat on the world stage, the state he oversees is buckling under the weight of his neglect and failed progressive agenda. 

The most glaring indictment of Newsom’s tenure is the state’s poor fiscal health. 

Under his reign, Newsom managed to shift the state from a record $97 billion surplus to a deficit crisis. 

While the governor’s 2026 budget proposal attempts to frame the challenge as a “manageable” $2.9 billion shortfall, the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office has painted a far bleaker picture, projecting an $18 billion deficit. 

This massive shortfall threatens essential services to those who need them most.

This is not just bad luck with the markets; it is the result of a governor who expanded permanent social programs using temporary, volatile tax windfalls. 

Under Newsom, California is a place where only the ultra-wealthy or the heavily subsidized can afford to live. 

The state has a cost-of-living crisis that drives the middle class away, thanks to factors including:

• Energy costs: Californians pay the highest electricity rates in the continental United States — nearly double the national average.
• Gas prices: Aggressive environmental taxes and regulatory premiums keep California’s gas prices much higher than in the rest of the country.
• The poverty paradox: Despite its vast wealth, California has the highest poverty rate in the nation when accounting for the cost of living. More than 7 million residents lack the resources to meet basic needs.  

When Newsom boasts of “California values,” he speaks of a system that punishes middle class residents through high taxes and regulatory burdens, forcing them to flee to other states.  

Nowhere is Newsom’s “all talk, no results” approach more visible than on the streets of California’s major cities. 

Despite spending more than $20 billion on homelessness programs during his tenure, the state remains the epicenter of the crisis. 

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While his administration recently touted a 9% drop in unsheltered populations for 2025, the number of homeless is higher than when he first took office in 2019. 

A leader who allows his own state capital to be defined by encampments and decay is not a leader who will restore order and safety to the American landscape.

Perhaps the core issue with a potential Newsom presidency is a fundamental lack of accountability. 

In Newsom’s California, failure is often blamed on external forces rather than policy. 

Yet, in reality, the buck stops with the governor.

He has used his platform not to solve the state’s crushing unemployment rate, but to build a national brand as a partisan brawler.

Americans want a president who can bridge divides and solve fundamental issues such as inflation and safety. 

Leadership is not just about the big ideas shared at a summit in Munich or Davos; it is about these “kitchen table” issues that Newsom seems to have outgrown. 

Every day spent at a forum in Europe is a day the governor is not negotiating with the legislature to solve the insurance-company exodus that leaves California homeowners unprotected. 

Every memorandum of understanding signed in a foreign nation is a distraction from the fact that California’s unemployment rate is stuck at 5.5%, compared to the national rate of 4.3%. 

California was once the promised land. Under Gavin Newsom, it has become a warning. 

If we want to see what the United States would look like under his leadership, we need only look at the persistent hole in California’s budget, and the tents lining city streets. 

The “California Model” is not a blueprint for the future; it is a roadmap to decline. 

Alexandra Macedo represents the 33rd Assembly District, which includes Tulare, Kings and Fresno counties.