California Gov. Gavin Newsom appears to be building an affordability message that could follow him all the way to a potential 2028 presidential campaign — and part of his emerging housing agenda bears a striking resemblance to policies championed by President Donald Trump.
With housing prices, mortgage payments and the overall cost of living squeezing millions of American families, Newsom has increasingly focused on cutting regulatory barriers and speeding up home construction in California.
The political twist is difficult to miss.
Trump has made deregulation a major part of his national housing strategy, arguing that excessive government rules, slow permitting and costly mandates make it harder for working Americans to afford a home.
Newsom and Trump remain miles apart politically. But when it comes to increasing America’s housing supply, the California Democrat is now embracing some of the same basic principles that conservatives and free-market economists have promoted for years.
Newsom Makes Affordability A Major Issue
Housing could become one of the defining economic issues of the next presidential election.
For Americans approaching retirement or trying to help their children and grandchildren buy their first homes, the numbers can be especially troubling. High home prices combined with mortgage rates, property taxes, insurance and construction costs have put traditional homeownership beyond the reach of many families.
That creates a major political challenge for Newsom.
California is home to some of America’s most expensive real estate markets, and the state’s regulatory system has faced years of criticism from builders, homeowners and free-market advocates.
Newsom is now trying to demonstrate that California can change course.
His administration has backed faster housing approvals, streamlined environmental reviews and other measures intended to remove obstacles to construction.
Those policies could also provide Newsom with an economic message if he eventually seeks the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028.
Newsom And Trump Find Surprising Common Ground
Newsom’s biggest recent California housing reforms were enacted before Trump’s March 2026 executive order targeting regulatory barriers.
That distinction is important.
Newsom did not simply adopt Trump’s executive order. But both leaders are pursuing some remarkably similar solutions to America’s housing shortage.
Those include speeding up government approvals, eliminating unnecessary regulatory delays, reducing construction barriers and increasing the supply of new homes.
Economist Peter St. Onge told Fox News Digital that these are ideas free-market economists have advocated for decades.
He argued that Democrats have historically resisted some deregulatory economic policies before becoming more receptive when economic or political pressures intensify.
St. Onge described Newsom’s shift as significant but questioned whether California’s government can turn the reforms into actual construction.
Palisades Rebuilding Puts California To The Test
One of the biggest tests may be the rebuilding of communities devastated by the Palisades fire.
Thousands of homes were destroyed, creating an urgent need for reconstruction.
St. Onge pointed to the rebuilding process as evidence that California still faces serious regulatory challenges despite Sacramento’s promises of reform.
For homeowners who lose everything in a disaster, permitting delays aren’t an abstract political debate. Every additional month can mean more temporary housing expenses, uncertainty and financial pressure.
That makes California’s ability to speed rebuilding an important test of Newsom’s new approach.
If his administration can dramatically reduce delays, Newsom could point to the results as evidence that his reforms are working.
If construction remains stalled, Republicans would have an obvious counterargument.
California Begins Cutting Housing Red Tape
Newsom signed a major housing package in June 2025 designed to make certain projects easier to build.
Among the most significant changes were exemptions for qualifying projects from portions of the California Environmental Quality Act, better known as CEQA.
The law has long played a major role in California development disputes.
Supporters consider environmental review essential for protecting communities and natural resources. Critics contend that the process can be used to delay desperately needed housing and drive up construction costs.
Newsom’s reforms streamlined environmental reviews for qualifying housing and infrastructure projects.
California also limited some Coastal Commission housing appeals and paused the adoption of new residential building standards through 2031.
Newsom followed those changes with another housing package in July aimed at simplifying affordable-housing financing and project reviews.
Taken together, the measures represent a significant attempt to loosen some of the government restrictions surrounding California housing construction.
Newsom’s Office Fires Back At Trump
Newsom’s administration strongly rejects the suggestion that Trump deserves credit for the governor’s housing strategy.
Newsom communications director Tara Gallegos told Fox News Digital that California’s reforms were designed to increase housing production, improve affordability and hold local governments accountable for building enough homes.
She also attacked Trump’s economic record, arguing that the president’s tariffs have increased prices and disrupted supply chains.
That disagreement highlights the larger political battle taking shape.
Newsom wants voters to see California as a model for aggressive state-level housing reform.
Trump wants voters to see deregulation and lower government-imposed costs as part of a broader conservative economic agenda.
Both sides are ultimately competing over the same concern: Americans increasingly believe the traditional dream of buying a home is becoming too expensive.
Trump’s Housing Plan Targets Government Regulation
Trump has made cutting red tape a central part of his federal housing agenda.
In March 2026, the president signed an executive order directing federal agencies to identify opportunities to accelerate permitting, reduce regulatory costs and encourage state and local governments to eliminate barriers to residential construction.
The White House’s Economic Report of the President went even further.
Published in April, the report recommended several specific changes that states and municipalities could consider.
Among them were faster approval for projects that already comply with building and zoning rules, deadlines for government decisions on construction applications, limits on certain fees and expanded use of third-party inspections.
The report also advocated reducing some green-energy mandates that can add to the upfront cost of new construction.
For conservatives, the underlying principle is familiar: Increasing supply becomes much harder when government makes new construction slower and more expensive.
White House Says Trump Is Fighting For Homeowners
The Trump administration says deregulation is only one piece of its broader housing strategy.
White House spokesperson Davis Ingle told Fox News Digital that Trump has focused on making housing more affordable by addressing regulations, mortgage markets and institutional ownership of homes.
The White House pointed to Trump’s executive action targeting purchases of single-family homes by large Wall Street firms.
It also highlighted administration actions involving Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and efforts to reduce regulatory barriers affecting housing construction.
The administration says its ultimate objective is restoring the American dream of homeownership.
That message could resonate particularly strongly with older Americans who remember when purchasing a modest home on a middle-class salary seemed considerably more attainable.
Newsom Has One Advantage Trump Doesn’t
Despite Trump’s ability to influence federal housing policy, presidents do not control many of the regulations that determine what actually gets built in American communities.
Much of that authority belongs to states, counties and cities.
John Gibbs, director of the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation, told Fox News Digital that housing supply remains primarily governed at the state and local level.
That gives Newsom powerful tools inside California.
The governor and state legislature can influence zoning policy, environmental regulations and permitting requirements while pressuring local governments to approve additional housing.
Trump’s federal tools are different.
Washington has considerably more influence over mortgage guarantees, federal housing programs, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, federal regulations and incentives offered to states and municipalities.
In other words, Newsom has more direct influence over some local supply restrictions, while Trump can pull larger financial and federal regulatory levers.
There Are Still Major Differences
The similarities between Trump and Newsom shouldn’t obscure their substantial differences.
Manhattan Institute senior fellow Judge Glock told Fox News Digital that some California housing policies include requirements involving union labor and environmental mandates that can increase construction costs.
The Trump administration has generally pursued the opposite approach by attempting to reduce mandates it considers unnecessarily expensive.
There is another fundamental difference: what kind of housing America should build.
Newsom’s California policies have placed greater emphasis on increasing density in existing communities, including apartment construction.
Trump’s approach has put comparatively greater emphasis on allowing metropolitan areas to expand outward and encouraging single-family housing.
For many Americans over 50, that distinction could be particularly meaningful.
The traditional American dream has often centered on owning a single-family house, building equity, raising a family and eventually entering retirement without a monthly rent payment.
Whether that model remains attainable for younger generations is rapidly becoming a major economic and political question.
Could Housing Become Newsom’s 2028 Message?
Newsom has not escaped California’s record simply by changing policy.
If he eventually runs for president, Republicans are almost certain to point toward California’s housing prices, homelessness problems, taxes, regulations and overall cost of living.
That means Newsom needs results.
Passing legislation that promises faster construction is one thing. Producing substantially more housing that middle-class families can actually afford is another.
The next several years could therefore become a real-world test of Newsom’s economic philosophy.
If California builds significantly more housing and costs begin to moderate, Newsom could enter a presidential campaign arguing that he confronted one of his state’s biggest problems and delivered reforms.
If the state’s housing crisis continues, conservatives will likely argue that California demonstrates the consequences of decades of heavy regulation and government mandates.
The Political Irony Is Hard To Ignore
For all their political differences, Trump and Newsom have arrived at a surprisingly similar conclusion on one part of America’s affordability crisis.
The country needs more homes.
And making those homes harder, slower and more expensive to build doesn’t help families trying to buy them.
The battle now concerns how far deregulation should go, which level of government should take the lead and whether policymakers can turn promises into actual houses.
For Trump, reducing regulation fits naturally into the economic philosophy he has promoted for years.
For Newsom, the shift could help redefine his national image before a possible 2028 campaign.
But California’s governor will face a difficult question if he takes that message nationwide:
If cutting red tape, speeding permits and encouraging more construction are now part of the solution, why did California allow its housing affordability problem to become so severe in the first place?
The answer — and California’s results over the next two years — could become an important part of Newsom’s political future.