Gov. Gavin Newsom didn’t ask for the National Guard or U.S. Marines to be deployed to Los Angeles in response to ongoing unrest over federal immigration raids.

But the latest standoff between the California governor and President Donald Trump has cast a larger spotlight on Newsom, further raising the profile of a Democrat already widely considered to be weighing a run for president in 2028.

And that, some political observers say, is a plus for Newsom — even this early in the 2028 game.

“Newsom probably would have wanted to avoid this particular confrontation,” Dan Schnur, who teaches political messaging at USC and UC Berkeley, said in a recent interview, “but he’s gotten very good over the years at using his arguments with Trump to unify California Democrats and to elevate his national profile.”

To many, Newsom, whose office did not respond to a request for comment, has positioned himself as the face of the Trump resistance movement.

He’s acted as a foil to the president’s agenda, for example, by having California yet again file lawsuit after lawsuit against the second Trump administration. That includes challenging whether Trump has a legal right to deploy the National Guard to Los Angeles, without the governor’s consent, to quell protests over federal immigration raids.

This early on, it remains to be seen whether all that will be enough to catapult Newsom to the top of the list of potential Democratic presidential hopefuls. But that hasn’t stopped all the reignited speculations about Newsom’s 2028 plans.

For years, Newsom — who can’t seek reelection as governor in 2026 because of term limits — had swatted away speculation that he has his sights set on the Oval Office. But more recently, he has left open the idea of tossing his name in the ring.

“I’m not thinking about running, but it’s a path that I could see unfold,” he told the Wall Street Journal earlier this month.

In the meantime, it doesn’t hurt Newsom for voters in important electoral states like Iowa and Michigan to see him clashing with Trump, said UC Irvine sociology professor David Meyer, whose areas of interest include political sociology and public policy.

Still, Meyer added, it’s too early to say whether Newsom will indeed be crowned the Democratic presidential nominee in 2028, should he run for office.

And, indeed, the next midterm election is nearly a year-and-a-half away — with the presidential election more than three years away.

“A lot is going to happen in the next three years,” Meyer said.

For now, Meyer added, “having Trump identify you as an enemy is only a good thing for a Democrat seeking national visibility.”

‘Arrest me … tough guy’

The latest fallout between Newsom and the Trump administration started on June 6, when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents conducted large-scale immigration raids in Los Angeles County, prompting protests that, in turn, led to Trump federalizing the California National Guard and deploying thousands of troops to L.A. over Newsom’s objections. Governors typically have control of the National Guard troops in their state.

Sending in the National Guard — and Trump’s subsequent decision to deploy hundreds of Marines to L.A. to protect federal property and immigration officers amid protests that, at times, grew rowdy or violent — have only escalated tensions between Democrats and the current White House administration.

Earlier this month, for example, Newsom egged on Tom Homan, Trump’s “border czar,” to arrest him after the latter threatened to apprehend anyone who impedes federal immigration operations.

“He knows where to find me,” Newsom said during an interview with NBC News. “Arrest me. Let’s just get it over with, tough guy.”

Two days later, a still-defiant Newsom addressed the public in a speech that he titled “Democracy at a Crossroads.”

He warned listeners that while the president has been focused on deploying the National Guard and the Marines to L.A., Trump’s actions in the Golden State are only the beginning.

“California may be first, but it clearly will not end here,” Newsom said. “Other states are next. Democracy is next. Democracy is under assault before our eyes. This moment we have feared has arrived.”

Then he told those listening that they were the “antidote” to the fear and anxiety Trump had sown and urged them to “not give in” to the president by remaining silent.

Shortly after Newsom went off the air, the governor’s office reported that his June 10 address was delivered to nearly 40 million people in California and across the country.

Grading Newsom’s speech

Garry South, a veteran Democratic consultant, said Newsom came across as presidential while delivering that speech.

“It was the right tone, the right words, the right level of seriousness,” South said.

“Regardless of what anybody might think of his politics, he’s a very tall, commanding kind of presence,” he added. “There’s quite a bit of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama in him — very charismatic, very articulate, a good public speaker.”

GOP leaders in the state legislature, however, offer a different take.

California Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher said the governor’s prime-time speech was “clearly designed to try to appeal to a national base.” However, he does not believe the address was enough to win over voters from other parts of the country.

“I don’t think anybody’s buying it in the Midwest, in all the places where Democrats need to win over hearts and minds,” he said.

Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones, meanwhile, said Newsom missed an opportunity to call for unity.

“He’s the governor of the largest state in the country who, in a time of duress … should have been delivering a message of hope and overcoming rather than what he did,” the senator said.

Despite the extra media coverage the California governor is getting these days, Jones said he doesn’t believe it will ultimately lead to a Pennsylvania Avenue address for Newsom.

“If he becomes the nominee of Democrats in 2028,” he said, “the rest of America just needs to look at California and say, ‘Oh, we don’t want that,’ and not elect him president.”

A look at the numbers

A recent poll by Morning Consult, a digital media company that conducts survey research, showed a bump in support for Newsom among registered voters compared to three months ago.

The survey, conducted from June 13 to 15 — about a week after the mass immigration raids began in L.A. — found that out of approximately 1,000 Democrats and Democrat-leaning independents nationwide, 11% said they would support Newsom if the primary election for president took place today. That figure stood at 5% in March.

Despite the bump in support, Newsom still trailed former Vice President Kamala Harris by double digits in that poll.

Harris, who hasn’t yet announced any future campaign plans, remained in the lead among the list of potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidates, at 34%. Newsom, at 11%, was closer to former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who each stood at 7%.

Polls, however, are notoriously capricious — and, at this early stage, hardly predictive.

Time will tell whether the numbers will keep trending in Newsom’s favor or if the bump in support is temporary.

South, the political consultant, meanwhile said he believes Newsom has seized on the opportunity of the moment.

Shortly before the governor delivered his June 10 prime-time address, the Campaign for Democracy, a political action committee that Newsom launched in 2023, blasted out an email, urging supporters to contribute to the PAC.

“What Trump doesn’t understand is that all of this attention on Los Angeles and California is making Newsom into a national hero among Democrats,” South said. “Trump has just given him a huge national platform, and Gavin has very wisely taken advantage of it.”

Staff writer Kaitlyn Schallhorn contributed to this report.