Newsom says he will work with Trump, but issues warning: ‘Let there be no mistake’

California Gov. Gavin Newsom responded for the first time to President-elect Trump’s victory over Vice President Harris in the 2024 presidential election, saying he’ll work with Trump but not without issuing a warning.

Newsom shared his remarks on social media Wednesday, expressing that a second Trump presidency is “not the outcome we wanted,” but the “fight for freedom and opportunity endures.”

“.@KamalaHarris set out to fight to defend our fundamental freedoms and build a country that works for everyone. She stood up for working families, decency, and opportunity,” Newsom wrote. “California will seek to work with the incoming president – but let there be no mistake, we intend to stand with states across our nation to defend our Constitution and uphold the rule of law.”

He continued: “Federalism is the cornerstone of our democracy. It’s the United STATES of America.”

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Newsom’s star power within the Democratic Party is expected to rise following the defeat of Harris, Dan Schnur, a teacher of political communications at University of Southern California, UC Berkeley and Pepperdine, told the Los Angeles Times.

“Newsom is going to lead the resistance government for the next two years as governor, and then after that, he is a very prominent and nationally recognized party leader,” Schnur told the newspaper.

Newsom has previously been asked about his own potential presidential prospects during the 2024 election cycle.

Voters in California, however, voted to get tough on crime, approving Proposition 36 despite Newsom opposing the ballot initiative.

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Proposition 36 will crack down on theft and drug trafficking in a state that has been battered by crime for years. Ahead of the vote, Newsom said: “Prop 36 takes us back to the 1980s, mass incarceration — it promotes a promise that can’t be delivered.” 

Voters disagreed as crime has spiraled in California in recent years, most notably in 2021 and 2022, when smash-and-grab crimes hit a fever pitch in the state. Criminals were repeatedly caught on camera storming high-end department stores with crowbars and other weapons in order to smash display cases before stealing merchandise and fleeing. 

Fox News Digital’s Elizabeh Pritchett and Emma Colton contributed to this report.

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