“I’d be lying if I said no. I don’t want to lie,” Newsom said in a CBS interview on October 26, when asked whether he intends to seek the presidency.
The 58-year-old governor emphasized that it is still too early to decide and that he will “see what fate has in store.” His second and final term as California’s governor ends in January 2027, after which he will no longer be eligible for re-election due to term limits.
“I’m waiting to see who steps up in 2028 and whether the timing and context feel right,” he added, suggesting he might make his intentions public after the 2026 midterms.
Newsom, one of the most influential Democrats in the country, has frequently clashed with President Donald Trump over major policy issues — including Trump’s deployment of National Guard and federal agents in immigration crackdowns in Los Angeles.
The California governor has also pushed for redistricting reforms aimed at increasing Democratic representation in the U.S. House of Representatives, countering similar efforts from Republican-controlled states.
According to an early CBS poll in October, about 72% of Democratic voters and nearly half of all registered voters believe Newsom should run for president in 2028. His approval rating has also risen from 30% to 33.5% since Trump took office.
In the latest dispute between state and federal authorities, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy accused Newsom of “not caring about people” after California allowed undocumented immigrants to obtain commercial driver’s licenses — a policy Duffy blamed for a fatal traffic accident in Florida last August.
In response, Newsom’s office defended the policy, stating that the Florida driver in question had been federally licensed multiple times and emphasizing that California’s fatal crash rate among commercial drivers is 40% lower than the national average.