Good afternoon. Andrew here. At the 2025 DealBook Summit, I sat down with Gov. Gavin Newsom of California. We discussed the future of the Democratic Party, his social media strategy and more. Below, we have some excerpts from that conversation. This is the last in our series about the interviews and task force panels at this year’s DealBook Summit. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading the highlights from that news-packed day. You can also watch all of the interviews on YouTube or listen to them as podcasts. (Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Sign up here.)
What Gavin Newsom said at the DealBook SummitGov. Gavin Newsom of California, who has positioned himself as a potential Democratic presidential candidate in 2028, has been a relentless critic of President Donald Trump. In response to a Republican gerrymander that Trump sought in Texas, Newsom launched a successful campaign to redraw California’s congressional map to favor Democrats. And on social media, he has mocked the president’s bombastic tone. At the DealBook Summit, Newsom discussed what he thinks went wrong for Democrats in the last presidential election and what he wants Democrats to do moving forward. The below highlight from the conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity. Andrew: You recently declared that the Democratic Party of old is no more. And I wanted to know what you meant by that. I think this was in the wake of Proposition 50’s win in California, and of course the party’s wins in Virginia and New Jersey. But why do you think the Democratic Party of old is not the same, and what does it look like? Gov. Gavin Newsom: I say it in contextual terms, that we’re finally back on our toes, not our back heels. We’re finally on the offense. We’ve woken up. And as a consequence, we’re winning again. A year ago, we were all hand-wringing, because we were a party that appeared weak, out of touch, a party that was not fighting back, was not asserting itself. And so from my perspective, I thought that November and what it represented in New Jersey and Virginia, what it represented in many respects here, but also in Pennsylvania and Georgia and elsewhere, and certainly with Proposition 50, is demonstrable proof that our party is now back on its toes. And it’s a party now that has got more enthusiasm, and it’s a party that I think is more unified. WATCH: Gavin Newsom Urges Democrats to Be ‘More Culturally Normal’ LISTEN: Newsom Says Trump’s Attacks Are “Not Normal Behavior” Andrew: OK, you say unified, but what does that party look like? There is a wealth-tax proposal in California that I think you are adamantly against? Newsom: Yes, I am. Andrew: And we have a mayor that’s coming here in New York who would like to have a wealth tax if he could. You couldn’t be more diametrically opposed. Newsom: I want to be a big tent party. It’s about addition, not subtraction. I think we all want to be protected, we want to be respected, we all want to be connected to something bigger than ourselves. We have fundamental values that I think define our party, about social justice, economic justice. I think we recognize that it’s important to focus on growth, but also focus on inclusion. We have predistribution Democrats, we have redistribution Democrats, and therein lies the dialectic — and therein lies the debate within the Democratic Party. We also have Democrats who are representative of their districts, representative of the people that they represent. So much punditry has been done about, well, is the future of the party in Mamdani? At the same election that occurred, well, is the future Virginia, is the future New Jersey? Andrew: But which is it? Newsom: The party’s knitting itself back together. We got shellacked in the last presidential election. And there’s been a lot of forensic analysis, perhaps not enough, about what happened. Donald Trump crushed us in the last election. Sorkin: And what do you think happened? Newsom: I’m up to page 28 in my analysis. Andrew: Give us a couple of the pages. Newsom: We don’t talk enough about interest rates. We didn’t talk about incumbency, issues related to Israeli politics, immigration, the border in particular. But I think there’s a broader narrative that we ought to address. That is: We have to be more culturally normal. We have to be a little less judgmental. We have to be a party that understands the importance and power of the border substantively and politically. We have a party that I think needs to design and develop a compelling economic vision for the future where people feel included, to reconcile the fact that if we don’t democratize our economy, we’re not going to save democracy. And I don’t think it’s healthy that we have 10 percent of people that own two-thirds of the wealth in this country. I don’t think it’s a sustainable practice. Andrew: Let me ask you then about wealth taxes, because it’s an easy one to discuss in certain ways. You’re not for a wealth tax in California. Newsom: You can’t isolate yourself from the 49 other states. We’re in a competitive environment. You’ve got to be pragmatic about it. Plus, there’s some simple questions that haven’t been answered, like how the hell do you determine it? It’s not something to be panicked about, but it’s part of the broader concern and narrative that’s developed in this country of the haves and have-nots — not just income inequality, but wealth inequality. And look, it doesn’t take much. That’s why I talk about growth and inclusion. And I think that’s a good thing.
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