'Two can play that game': Newsom hits Trump push to gain House seats

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) warned “two can play this game” in a post online after President Trump said he’s vying to pick up five House seats in Texas during a midcycle redistricting.

“Trump said he’s going to steal 5 Congressional seats in Texas and gerrymander his way into a 2026 win. Well, two can play that game,” he wrote Tuesday in another post on social platform X, linking to a clip of his interview on “Pod Save America” in which he weighed several options on potential redistricting in his state.

“Special sessions. Special elections. Ballot initiatives. New laws. It’s all on the table when democracy is on the line,” he added in the post.

Trump said Tuesday he thinks the Lone Star State can nab five seats for Republicans after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) called for a special session later this month to include redistricting among other priorities.

“And there could be some other states we’re going to get another three, or four or five in addition. Texas would be the biggest one,” Trump said.

The president suggested he was fine with allowing Democratic states to redraw their own lines, opening the door to other blue states conducting midcycle redistricting. The push comes as Republicans are bracing for an unfavorable midterm environment in which the president’s party typically faces headwinds.

California has an independent commission that creates the state’s maps. The commission was born out of a 2008 ballot measure that voters passed and was later updated in 2010.

Whatever solution Newsom chooses to pursue, he would have to contend with working around the independent commission or getting rid of it altogether.

“I'm talking to members of my Legislature, whatever our alternatives, we could do a special session. I could call for one today, if I chose to, we could then put something on the ballot, and I could call a special election,” Newsom said on the “Pod Save America” podcast. 

“We can change the Constitution with the consent of the voters, and I think we would win that. I think people understand what's at stake in California.”

He also suggested they're looking into the legal question of whether or not the independent commission has to be involved during midcycle redistricting.