Newsom targets major affordability squeeze in ‘striking’ convergence with Trump

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is making affordability a focal point of his agenda as the potential 2028 Democratic presidential contender moves to tackle housing costs — seizing on an issue that hurt Democrats politically while converging with pieces of President Donald Trump’s deregulatory housing agenda before the midterms. Newsom’s biggest recent housing reforms in California came before Trump’s March 2026 executive order on regulatory barriers, but the two are pushing some of the same ideas,