At his second White House Correspondents Dinner on Friday at the Waldorf Astoria, President Trump delivered a speech in which he mocked members of the press (Kaitlin Collins), celebrities (Jane Fonda, Bruce Springsteen), and politicians (Adam Schiff, Gavin Newsom) who have consistently questioned and criticized the President over the years.
Trump said of California’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom: “It’s traditional that at least one or two potential presidential hopefuls attend the correspondents dinner, but many of them seemed to have really chickened out. I was disappointed that Gavin Newscum [stet] didn’t show up. He didn’t show up. He should be here. But I heard that he recently said that ‘we will lose our country if we don’t fight fire with fire.’ And to be fair, there’s only one thing we know about Gavin, and that’s that he definitely doesn’t want to fight fire with water. He’s got a lot of water he never uses.” (One person in the audience was heard laughing.)
Newsom responded via social media: “Trump is cracking jokes about natural disasters while American families are still waiting for the disaster recovery dollars he promised.”
Trump is cracking jokes about natural disasters while American families are still waiting for the disaster recovery dollars he promised. https://t.co/RGChrGZEtA
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) July 25, 2026
California’s two Democratic senators, Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff, have also criticized the Trump administration for omitting funding for victims of last year’s Los Angeles wildfires in the recent budget request, which Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought defended in April.
The budget instead emphasizes funding for the Pentagon (for additional costs related to the Iran war), and includes an $11 billion bailout for American farmers affected by President Trump’s global tariffs.
[NOTE: Newsom’s administration asked for $16 billion that would “consist primarily of disbursements from the Federal Emergency Management Agency flagged for communities hit by the fires, part of a $33.9-billion wildfire relief funding request” made by the Governor. Newsom said his request to meet with FEMA was denied.]
In a joint statement, Padilla and Schiff said: “Donald Trump’s desire to punish Los Angeles and the state of California for not voting for him, means once again that thousands of Angelinos are left watching this administration fight for anything but them, their businesses, and their communities.”
They added, “These fires did not discriminate based on party or political preference. Neither should this administration.”
[NOTE: During his correspondents dinner speech, Trump said of Schiff, “I hate some people.”]