Newsom breaks with usual Trump criticism to tout Trump Accounts

Gavin Newsom saying something nice about a Trump policy is a man-bites-dog story, and everyone treated it that way. But look at what actually happened before you get too excited. Newsom wasn't endorsing Trump. He was using the Trump Accounts as a springboard to talk up CalKIDS, his own state savings program, and doing it in a way that lets him claim credit for being "ahead of the curve" on child savings accounts. That's not a truce. That's a governor with 2028 ambitions finding a rare moment where he can look reasonable and bipartisan without actually giving up any ground.

Still, give credit where it's due. The idea behind Trump Accounts, seeding savings for kids so they have something to build on by adulthood, is good policy regardless of who signed it. It's the kind of thing that should be easy to praise no matter your party, because compound interest doesn't care about your politics. The fact that a guy who has spent years calling Trump every name in the book couldn't quite bring himself to trash this one tells you something about how sound the idea actually is.

What's worth watching is whether this is a genuine crack in the reflexive opposition or just a savvy politician borrowing a popular idea's momentum for his own program. Newsom didn't say "great job, Mr. President." He said "get a Trump Account" while pointing people toward his own brand. That's not statesmanship, that's marketing. But if the byproduct is more kids with actual savings accounts instead of more culture-war noise, we'll take it, even if the applause is mostly self-directed.