Gavin Newsom is making excuses again. While New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani is out there shaking hands with President Donald Trump, the California governor refuses to even take a call. It is a stark difference in leadership styles that New Yorkers should pay attention to right now.
Newsom’s team claims the president is to blame for the cold shoulder, but the facts show a different story. The socialist mayor of New York City is managing to work across the aisle, while the California governor seems stuck in a loop of insults and lawsuits.
The California Stalemate
Newsom’s office continues to spin a narrative that puts the governor above working with the federal government. They claim he met with Trump for 90 minutes back in February 2025, but that meeting soured when the president tried to deploy the National Guard against the governor’s wishes. Since then, the relationship has gone downhill fast.
In January 2025, the governor enacted legislation providing $50 million for legal battles against the Trump administration. Half of that money was set aside specifically to defend illegal migrants, while the rest was used to file broader lawsuits. Newsom says this cash was well spent to protect state interests, but it has clearly damaged the state’s ability to get federal aid.
While New York moves forward, California is stuck litigating. Newsom has even challenged national policies that have nothing to do with his state, like the firing of federal employees. The courts threw out that case because the state lacked standing, yet the political damage to California’s relationship with the White House remains.
Mamdani Takes a Different Path
In New York, Mayor Zohran Mamdani is proving that you can be a political opponent and still get work done. He recently joined forces with Gov. Kathy Hochul at a rally in Brooklyn to attack their common rivals, but he has not closed the door on Trump. The contrast is impossible to ignore.
At the rally in Crown Heights, Mamdani and Hochul warned voters about the cost of childcare if Republican Bruce Blakeman wins the governor’s race. Mamdani told the crowd that Blakeman would cancel universal childcare, calling the idea a “winning message” for a consultant who clearly does not understand New York families.
“We want a city where you can hear kids. That’s a city we are fighting for. If this was a Bruce Blakeman rally, they’d be like, ‘Get this kid out of here. We don’t want childcare for him,'” Mamdani said to the cheering crowd, according to the New York Post.
Despite their disagreements, Hochul joined forces with the lefty mayor and targeted both Blakeman and Trump. She noted that Trump is trying to undermine elections so people lose faith in their votes.
Who Actually Delivers?
It is time to stop pretending that refusing to talk to the other side is a virtue. Newsom’s refusal to work with the White House has cost California real opportunities. Meanwhile, Mamdani shows that even a socialist can play nice when it helps the city.
Following Karoline Leavitt’s suggestion that he contact Trump, Newsom’s office attempted to frame him as a victim this weekend. But the mayor of New York is out there doing the job. The governor of California is just making noise.
New Yorkers know that when the bills come due, you need leaders who can negotiate. The upcoming election on Nov. 3 will show if voters in New York want that same pragmatic approach or if they prefer the endless fighting we see in California.
This is opinion and commentary from the RapForMayor team.
