Welcome to the online version of From the Politics Desk, a newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team’s latest reporting and analysis from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail.
In today’s edition, we dive into how California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s bare-knuckled approach to fighting the GOP is drawing attention on the left and the right. Plus, Jonathan Allen examines whether President Donald Trump’s strategy for dealing with Russian President Vladimir Putin has reached its breaking point.
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— Adam Wollner
Gavin Newsom strikes a nerve — and seizes the spotlight — as he treads on Trump’s turf
By Natasha Korecki, Sahil Kapur and Katherine Doyle
After months of escalating attacks against President Donald Trump, California Gov. Gavin Newsom seems to have finally hit a nerve by hijacking his tactics.
Newsom has put California at the center of Democrats’ campaign against a Trump-backed effort in Texas to pad the GOP’s U.S. House majority, countering with a rare, mid-decade redistricting proposal of his own. All the while, he’s flooded social media with a steady stream of all-caps screeds mocking the president’s signature style.
It’s commanded a whirlwind of national attention, from Democrats and Republicans alike, that few in Newsom’s party have been able to manage during Trump’s second term.
Over the past 48 hours alone, Newsom was singled out by former President Barack Obama for his “responsible approach” to redrawing California’s congressional maps; by Vice President JD Vance, who slammed him in a Fox News interview for trying to mimic Trump; and by Trump himself on Truth Social.
“Triggered?” Newsom responded to Trump.
For Newsom, who is on the short list of potential 2028 White House hopefuls, it all comes as the Democratic Party’s base above all else is itching for a fighter to take on Trump and the GOP.
“He would like to be the nominee in ’28. Is he succeeding on getting that kind of attention? Yes, he is,” said Willie Brown, the former San Francisco mayor and state House speaker who’s a longtime friend and political mentor to Newsom.
The view on the right: Trump’s MAGA allies have teed off on Newsom’s social media assault, arguing that he was embarrassing himself, wasting public resources and wasn’t actually the one posting.
But Steve Bannon, a former Trump White House aide, offered praise for Newsom’s “brilliant” political gambit.
“This really shows how much Trump has changed modern politics. You have to be on offense, and you have to break through the media white noise, and it’s not as much policy-driven as attitude- and style-driven,” Bannon told NBC News. “He’s done something that no other Democrat has done. He’s energized these guys. He’s trying to instill the fighting spirit in a very dispirited party that has lost 4 million people. You have to put the guidon on a hill, and you have to rally the troops around something.”
Read more →
Why Trump may need to treat Putin like Putin treats Zelenskyy
Analysis by Jonathan Allen
President Donald Trump has tried to lure Russian leader Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table with a buffet of sugar-coated carrots. Their lack of efficacy suggests it might be time for Trump to try a few sticks.
Consider last week, when Trump rolled out the red carpet for Putin, who is considered a war criminal in much of the world, at a hastily planned summit on American soil. What did Trump get? Not much.
Putin obliged Trump by agreeing that Russia did not interfere in the 2016 election, despite U.S. intelligence reports to the contrary. It’s a take that not only fed the president’s ego but reinforced Russia’s generations-long effort to sow division among American voters. Putin’s testament to a lack of interference, in other words, served as its own form of interference.
But what Trump did not get from Putin was a promise to end Russia’s war against Ukraine, or even a plan to talk with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
This week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov established a high bar of conditions for the Russian and Ukrainian leaders to meet, saying Putin would sit down with Zelenskyy once all of the issues between the two countries are resolved and if Putin is convinced that Zelenskyy has the legitimate authority to sign a peace deal. Trump required no concession from Putin before elevating the Russian president by bringing him to the U.S., sitting down with him privately, and appearing at side-by-side rostrums for a glorified photo-op.
By contrast, Putin treats Zelenskyy as a fake president and, by extension, treats Ukraine like a fake country. That shouldn’t be surprising, as Putin began trying to reabsorb Ukraine into Russia by force more than a decade ago.
But it may provide a lesson for Trump about the art of diplomacy.
Putin has little incentive to end his war or even offer concessions so long as Trump portrays him as an equal, and his country as a global power. Right now, the public discussion being convened by Trump revolves around what Ukraine will have to cede to Russia to get Putin to call off his army. There’s no real external pressure on Putin.
Trump could seek to cripple the Russian economy, which is less than one-tenth the size of America’s, with greater economic sanctions. Instead of requiring Ukraine to pay for American protection with future mineral yields, he could give Zelenskyy more weaponry and bless — or even publicly assist — Ukrainian strikes on Russia. Rather than elevate Putin, Trump could castigate, ostracize and humiliate him with the kind of blistering rhetoric that Trump has to date reserved for Zelenskyy.
If continuing the war costs Putin nothing — not even his stature in the eyes of the most powerful man in the world — there is little reason for him to stop. And maybe there’s nothing the U.S. could do, short of handing him Ukraine, that would lead to a ceasefire.
But deep into the first year of a presidency that he vowed would automatically bring an end to the war, Trump’s carrots have fed the Russian bear without sating it. Appeasement isn’t working. Sticks might be a better strategy both for protecting Ukraine and for fulfilling the promise to broker a peace deal.
Today’s other top stories
- In the courts: A New York appeals court dismissed a $500 million civil fraud penalty against Trump and his companies for routinely overvaluing their properties in financial statements. Read more →
- In the courts, cont.: A federal judge found that acting U.S. Attorney Alina Habba’s appointment was “unlawful” and her actions since July as the top federal prosecutor in New Jersey may be declared void. Read more →
- D.C. crackdown: Trump is expected to greet law enforcement personnel and National Guard troops in Washington, D.C., today and thank them for their efforts to carry out the anti-crime measures his administration has imposed on the city. Read more →
- Trade wars: The U.S. has agreed to limit tariffs on pharmaceuticals, lumber and semiconductors imported from the European Union to 15%. Read more →
- New tactic: Trump’s administration has levied mortgage fraud allegations against three Democratic officials in recent weeks. Read more →
- All that and a bag of chips?: A longtime adviser and fundraiser for New York City Mayor Eric Adams was suspended from his campaign after she attempted to give a local reporter a potato chips bag that was stuffed with cash. Read more →
- 2025 watch: The New Jersey governor’s race this fall will be an early testing ground for Republicans who are trying to sustain Trump’s gains among Latino voters and Democrats who are trying to win them back. Read more →
- 2026 watch: Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, who has clashed with Trump and Republican congressional leaders, announced that he is running for Texas attorney general. Read more →
- 2028 watch: Former Vice President Kamala Harris will embark on a 15-city international tour, beginning in September, to tout the release of her memoir, “107 Days.” Read more →
- By the numbers: The Pew Research Center has found that the number of immigrants in the U.S. appears to be shrinking for the first time since the 1960s. Read more →
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That’s all From the Politics Desk for now. Today’s newsletter was compiled by Adam Wollner and Bridget Bowman.
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