October 31, 2025 - SACRAMENTO — Today, Governor Gavin Newsom released the following:
This Halloween, the real fright is not in haunted houses or the scariest costume – it’s coming from Washington, D.C.
The Trump Administration’s reckless decisions are killing the economy, casting a long shadow over California’s prosperity and threatening the livelihoods of families. It’s a horrifying reality with no treats, all tricks.
TRUMP IS PLAYING TRICKS ON AMERICANS

From imposing tariffs that have upended our economy, militarizing America’s greatest cities, ripping families apart, sending $20 billion to Argentina while gutting access to health care coverage, and suspending SNAP benefits before Thanksgiving and the holidays – these are all wicked actions this President has inflicted on the American people.
OPTICS OVER OUTCOMES
The Vice President makes every grand gesture for optics, not outcomes. Beneath the fake patriotic veneer lies a weak negotiator who treats loyalty as leverage and sacrifice as stagecraft – a game master turning duty into drama. If only the Vice President was able to find a way to assist Americans in need during this Republican-led shutdown.
NOTE: JD Vance personally knows the importance of SNAP benefits.
TERRIFYING KIDS
Trump’s Secretary of Homeland Security continues to take pleasure in tearing families apart – deporting hardworking, tax-paying people contributing to our communities and economy. Her cruelty isn’t limited to one act – it’s a pattern. Through violent immigration enforcement, she is terrorizing communities and our workforce, leaving lasting pain, and devastation in her wake. It’s having a devastating impact on our economy as she pushes political agendas over people’s pocketbooks.
CRUSADING AGAINST THE CONSTITUTION
Trump’s Deputy Chief of Staff is the puppet-master of Trump’s evil indiscriminate deportation agenda. His reckless immigration quotas have terrorized America’s greatest cities, put law enforcement at-risk and have left families in fear.
He enjoys terrorizing Latinos and ripping away civil rights – regularly causing the Trump Administration legal headaches in courts across the country and putting American farms at risk who rely on these hardworking people year after year and are trusted in their communities. These disastrous and dangerous policies do two things: make groceries more expensive and tear apart American families.
U.S. Secretary of Defense, a narcissist ill-equipped to lead the nation in combat. After Signalgate, we didn’t think his antics would get worse. Sadly, we’ve been regularly proven wrong: from his comments on generals obtaining a certain physique and attacking LGBTQ+ troops to restricting access to reproductive freedom for servicemembers to fairly regular mishaps – it’s embarrassing. And worse, veterans are getting hit too, as access to health care at the VA becomes more difficult under the Trump Administration, meaning more costly bills likely later on.
PUSHING PROJECT 2025
Trump’s Director of the Office of Management & Budget (a key architect of Project 2025) swings his scythe through the federal government – pushes for the illegal mass firing of thousands of dedicated public servants in the midst of this Republican-led government shutdown, punishing political enemies by rescinding key federal investment in innovation and the future, and is pushing ahead with the implementation of the reckless Project 2025.
MAKING AMERICA SICK AGAIN
Trump’s Health & Human Services Secretary has traded the facts, data, and science for social media grifting. Instead of continuing America’s leadership on the global stage in finding truth in decades of science backed by professionals, he’s lured people into believing his circus of conspiracy – from removing key CDC officials to disbanding vaccine panels. He calls it “MAHA, Making America Healthy Again,” but it’s just another illusion. The clown doesn’t want to heal you; he wants to feed on your fear.
SNAP, THERE GOES YOUR FOOD

Trump’s Secretary of Agriculture continues to think it’s okay to claw away SNAP benefits for 42 million Americans, turning the nation’s hunger crisis into a real-life nightmare. She’s doubled down over and over that there is no emergency funding – misleading people about the tools available to her to provide assistance.
ROAD RULES: FLIGHTS OF FEAR EDITION

Trump’s Secretary of Transportation can’t even keep planes running on time — let alone keep airports open. As the government shutdown continues, airports are halting flights due to air traffic controller shortages. Because of Duffy’s silly political games, don’t expect your flights to land on time this Holiday season.
Despite the federal government’s chaos, California remains committed to protecting its people and this economy – ensuring that our working families aren’t left behind. So far, California has taken the Trump Administration to court more than 40 times – winning back more than $100 billion in federal government funding illegally stripped from Californians.
And, as the Trump Administration and his lapdogs in Congress stretch the government shutdown into its 30th day, California has deployed its statewide service corps (CalVolunteers) and members of The California National Guard (in coordination with local communities) to assist food banks to better serve people in need as resources provided by the Trump Administration begin to run dry.
Source: Office of the Governor

