An ad supporting a proposed wealth tax on California billionaires aired during the final day of the 2026 Winter Olympics on February 22, 2026. (Photo: Billionaire Tax Now)
“Massive federal funding cuts will shut hospitals and emergency rooms forever because billionaires refuse to pay their fair share.”
Organizers behind a proposed billionaire wealth tax in California aired their first campaign advertisement on the final day of the 2026 Winter Olympics over the weekend, styling the 30-second spot as an emergency alert warning of a looming healthcare catastrophe in the Golden State.
“This is not a drill,” the ad says. “California healthcare is facing an emergency. Hospitals will close. Expect longer wait times and overcrowded emergency rooms. Massive federal funding cuts will shut hospitals and emergency rooms forever because billionaires refuse to pay their fair share. Prepare to make alternative plans for care, or vote yes to make billionaires pay their fair share.”
If enacted, billionaires residing in California as of the start of 2026 would face a one-time 5% tax on their fortunes, and the revenue—around $100 billion, according to supporters—would go toward counteracting the impacts of federal cuts to Medicaid and nutrition assistance approved last summer by congressional Republicans and President Donald Trump. Proponents of the billionaire tax note that more than 3 million Californians could lose healthcare coverage if the state doesn’t act.
Suzanne Jimenez, chief of staff at Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West, which is leading the campaign for the wealth tax, said the new ad “underscores the choice California faces—more tax breaks for billionaires, or keeping our hospitals open.”
“It’s important to alert as many Californians as possible to the healthcare collapse that is looming, because it’s preventable if billionaires pay something closer to their fair share,” Jimenez added.
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Ed Milband and Gavin Newsom at the signing event in London. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA
President says it is inappropriate for UK to be dealing with Gavin Newsom after Ed Miliband meets governor in London
Donald Trump has vented his fury against a green energy deal between the British government and California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, a likely future Democratic presidential candidate.
“The UK’s got enough trouble without getting involved with Gavin Newscum,” Trump said in an interview with Politico, using the derogatory nickname he reserves for Newsom. “Gavin is a loser. Everything he’s touched turns to garbage. His state has gone to hell, and his environmental work is a disaster.”
In an intervention that is likely to be clocked by British government officials wary of potential new landmines in the UK’s relationship with the White House, Trump went on to say it was “inappropriate” for Newsom to strike such agreements and “inappropriate for them [the UK] to be dealing with him”.
Newsom, one of the loudest domestic opponents of the US president on issues ranging from ICE deportation raids to the climate crisis, signed a memorandum of understanding in London with the UK’s energy secretary, Ed Miliband.
Their agreement is aimed at deepening existing cooperation between the UK and California and creates a new framework to scale up clean energy technologies and enhance ties between businesses and researchers in Britain and the US state, which is in effect the world’s fourth largest global economy.
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California Gov. Gavin Newsom signs bills related to redrawing the state’s congressional maps on August 21, 2025 in Sacramento, California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
“Trump said he was ‘entitled’ to five more congressional seats in Texas,” said California Gov. Gavin Newsom. “He started this redistricting war. He lost, and he’ll lose again in November.”
The US Supreme Court on Wednesday dealt a major blow to President Donald Trump’s mid-decade redistricting scheme when it refused to take up an emergency request by the California Republican Party to override an appeals court ruling that greenlit a newly redrawn congressional map in their state.
The court’s decision came two months after it cleared the way for Texas to adopt a new map drawn up by state Republicans, which analysts have projected could net the GOP as many as five additional seats in the US House of Representatives.
California’s initiative to redraw its map came as a direct rebuke to the Texas GOP, which pushed through its mid-decade partisan gerrymander at Trump’s insistence. As drawn, the new California map is expected to balance out the redrawn Texas map by netting Democrats in the House five additional seats of their own.
California’s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, who led the charge to redraw his state’s map, took a victory lap after the Supreme Court decision.
“Donald Trump said he was ‘entitled’ to five more congressional seats in Texas,” Newsom wrote in a social media post. “He started this redistricting war. He lost, and he’ll lose again in November.”
Attorney Norm Eisen, executive chairman of Democracy Defenders Fund, hailed the court’s decision as a “huge, gigantic, enormous win” that will counter “Trump’s attempt to steal congressional seats.”
Trump’s unprecedented mid-decade redistricting crusade, which began in Texas and subsequently spread to Missouri and North Carolina, has been hit with major pushback from Democrat-controlled states.
In addition to California, Democrats in Virginia and Maryland are also working on redrawing their congressional maps to counter Trump’s efforts ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
However, Trump and his allies have signaled that aggressive gerrymandering won’t be the only trick they’ll play to hold onto power in the 2026 midterms.
Right-wing podcaster and political strategist Steve Bannonclaimed on Tuesday that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers will “surround” polling places in November, and Trump on Monday called on Republicans to “nationalize the voting” and take away states’ power to conduct their own elections.
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People hold signs as they rally outside the Phillip Burton Federal Building to support immigrant and activist Guillermo Medina Reyes before a deportation hearing on July 15, 2025, in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Lea Suzuki/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)
Accusing the president of sending in agents to cause “anxiety,” so he can then deploy the National Guard, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said, “This is no different than the arsonist putting out the fire.”
President Donald Trump’s assault on immigrants in Democrat-led cities continued Wednesday with confirmation from the US Coast Guard that its base in Alameda, California is preparing to host 100 federal agents—whose looming arrival is seen as “a likely precursor” to the Republican deploying National Guard troops to San Francisco.
The San Francisco Chronicle initially reported that agents from Customs and Border Protection (CBP)—an agency in the US Department of Homeland Security—were headed to the Bay Area, citing a source who spoke on the condition of anonymity. A spokesperson from the Coast Guard, also part of DHS, then confirmed that the base would serve as a “place of operations.”
“This support of DHS agencies continues the Coast Guard’s operations to control, secure, and defend US borders and maritime approaches,” the spokesperson said in a statement to multiple local media outlets. “Through a whole-of-government approach, we are leveraging our unique authorities and capabilities to detect, deter, and interdict illegal aliens, narco-terrorists, and individuals intent on terrorism or other hostile activity before they reach our border.”
As KQEDpointed out Wednesday, the region has already seen increased immigration enforcement in recent months:
Since May, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and CBP officials have been escalating operations throughout the Bay Area, moving to have undocumented immigrants’ asylum cases dismissed and arresting them outside of courtrooms and ICE field offices.
More than 2,000 people were arrested in San Francisco’s “Area of Responsibility” between January and July 2025, according to Mission Local.
The reporting on the federal agents due to start arriving in the Bay Area on Thursday followed various threats from Trump to send National Guard soldiers into San Francisco, as he has with Los Angeles, California; Washington, DC; Portland, Oregon; and Chicago, Illinois. The president and Republican Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee have also collaborated to deploy National Guard troops in Memphis.
A federal judge has blocked the National Guard deployment in Illinois—where ICE’s Operation Midway Blitz is ongoing—but the Trump administration has appealed to the US Supreme Court. Citing two unnamed officials,CBS News‘ Camilo Montoya-Galvez reported on social media Wednesday that Border Patrol’s Gregory Bovino, who has led immigration raids in Chicago and Los Angeles, “is expected to be involved in the operation” in the Bay Area.
Elected officials across California have condemned the deployment of federal agents and Trump’s threats to send National Guard troops. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom—a likely 2028 presidential candidate—declared in a Wednesday video on social media that “this is right out of the dictator’s handbook.”
Newsom accused Trump of sending in masked immigration agents to cause “anxiety,” so he can then justify deploying the National Guard. As the governor put it, “This is no different than the arsonist putting out the fire.”
BREAKING: Donald Trump is sending federal agents to San Francisco.
Democratic San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie said Wednesday that “our communities have already endured the painful impact of aggressive immigration enforcement. At the same time, we continue to see escalated operations across the country, with military personnel on the ground in cities like Chicago and Portland.”
“For the last 10 months, we have been taking steps to prepare for this kind of escalation here in San Francisco,” he continued. “Just a few minutes ago, I signed an executive directive that will build on these preparations, strengthen the city’s support for our immigrant communities, and ensure our departments are coordinated ahead of any federal deployment.”
“Immigrants are the small business owners, essential workers, community leaders, and neighbors who make San Francisco a place that we are proud to call home. They fuel our economy—contributing nearly $275 billion in output and $23 billion in annual tax revenue across California,” he added. “San Francisco will never stand by as our neighbors are targeted, and neither will I.”
Meanwhile, in Alameda, where the base is located, the city said in a Wednesday statement that “the Alameda Police Department (APD) is not a part of this operation, and APD does not enforce federal immigration laws or related civil warrants.”
The city also shared various resources and stressed its commitment “to the values of dignity, inclusivity, and respect for all individuals, regardless of ethnic or national origin, gender, race, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, or immigration status.”
San Francisco won’t cower to a president who uses our troops for political retribution.
It’s time to do right by our troops and by Californians. Call off the National Guard. pic.twitter.com/rqqEmzvw2V
Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), a former speaker of the House of Representatives, said Tuesday that “San Francisco does not want or need Donald Trump’s chaos. Our city takes great pride in the steps we’ve taken to significantly increase public safety and reduce crime—without the interference of a president just seeking headlines.”
California Attorney General Rob Bonta this week threatened to sue over any deployment of the National Guard, as did San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu—who on Monday urged the US Supreme Court “to uphold the bedrock legal principle that domestic law enforcement is not the military’s job.”
“San Francisco has seen historic drops in crime,” Chiu said, “and our local law enforcement are more than capable of keeping our city safe while upholding First Amendment rights.”
The administration’s attacks on First Amendment rights have extended far beyond immigrants and protesters of the president’s anti-migrant agenda; Trump and his officials have also targeted journalists and media companies, comedians, law firms, federal workers, anti-fascists, and anyone expressing views deemed “anti-Christianity,” “anti-capitalism,” or “hostility toward those who hold traditional American views on family, religion, and morality.”
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Members of the National Guard stand outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles, California on June 8, 2025. (Photo: Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)
“Every governor, red or blue, should reject this outrageous overreach,” said California’s Democratic governor, who sued over the president’s takeover of the state’s National Guard. “We will not let this stand.”
As President Donald Trump deployed U.S. Marines to Los Angeles on Monday in response to protests against immigration raids and the violent arrest of a popular labor leader, California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office announced that he and Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom sued Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over their weekend takeover of the state’s National Guard.
“President Trump’s order calling federalized National Guard troops into Los Angeles—over the objections of the governor and local law enforcement—is unnecessary and counterproductive. It’s also deeply unfair to the members of the National Guard who are hard at work every day protecting our state, preparing for and responding to emergencies, and training so that, if called, they can fight our nation’s wars,” Bonta said in a statement.
“Let me be clear: There is no invasion. There is no rebellion. The president is trying to manufacture chaos and crisis on the ground for his own political ends,” he added. “Federalizing the California National Guard is an abuse of the president’s authority under the law—and not one we take lightly. We’re asking a court to put a stop to the unlawful, unprecedented order.”
As of press time, the filing was not yet available, but it was set to be shared on Bonta’s government website.
The Department of Defense is lying to the American people.
The situation became escalated when THEY deployed troops.
Donald Trump has manufactured a crisis and is inflaming conditions.
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) June 9, 2025
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducted raids in Los Angeles on Friday and Saturday, sparking intense protests. Trump’s memorandum came on Saturday, prompting Newsom’s Sunday letter formally requesting that the president reverse course. The governor also previewed the new lawsuit during a Sunday interview with MSNBC.
“Donald Trump is creating fear and terror by failing to adhere to the U.S. Constitution and overstepping his authority. This is a manufactured crisis to allow him to take over a state militia, damaging the very foundation of our republic,” Newsom, who widely seen as a 2028 presidential contender, said Monday.
“Every governor, red or blue, should reject this outrageous overreach,” he argued. “This is beyond incompetence—this is him intentionally causing chaos, terrorizing communities, and endangering the principles of our great democracy. It is an unmistakable step toward authoritarianism. We will not let this stand.”
He's reckless. He's immoral. He's taken the illegal and unconstitutional act of federalizing the national guard and he's putting lives at risk.
It's my job to clean up Donald Trump's mess, because he's making it by the hour.
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) June 9, 2025
Trump’s actions and remarks related to the protests against ICE in California have elicited fears of wider repression during his second term.
Criticism continued to mount on Monday, with Joseph Geevarghese, executive director of the progressive group Our Revolution, declaring that “this is not law and order—it’s tyranny… When power is concentrated in the hands of a corrupt few, and dissent is met with armed repression, democracy itself is under siege. We must call this what it is: a threat to the republic.”
Before the Marine deployment on Monday, Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Greg Casar (D-Texas) said in a statement that “Trump politicizing and weaponizing the National Guard makes us all less safe and less free. His threat to deploy the Marines into the streets of an American city is an illegal and authoritarian escalation.”
Politico reported Monday that the administration ordered about 700 Marines to Los Angeles, and while it is not yet clear what role they will play, “one of the defense officials said they will likely support the 2,000 National Guard troops sent to assist law enforcement.”
Casar tied the recent events in Los Angeles to congressional Republicans’ evolving budget reconciliation package, saying that “Trump’s threats have nothing to do with keeping people safe—it’s about political theater. He’s scapegoating immigrants to distract from the GOP’s real agenda: ripping healthcare away from millions to pay for tax cuts for the ultrarich.”
“We will not be intimidated,” he added. “Progressives are standing up to this administration, including by conducting lawful oversight at ICE detention centers in Los Angeles and across the country. We stand with Angelenos, and we stand with immigrant families everywhere. The president must return command of the National Guard to Gov. Newsom.”
