When Gavin Newsom became governor, he inherited a $21 billion surplus.
His final year in office had California in an $18 billion hole. This is a problem for a man who is planning to run for president in 2028. Inheriting a surplus and leaving office with a deficit is the kind of stuff that won’t get you very far when you’re running on your record.
So Newsom has decided to do what Democrats always do: lie.
Gavin Newsom presented his final budget this week with the confidence of a man who thinks California voters (and eventually the whole country) have short memories. They don’t.
On Thursday, Newsom unveiled a $349 billion spending plan and declared victory over California’s deficit, claiming the state will hit a balanced budget by 2028.
So he took to X to gloat.
You won’t hear this on Fox News:
California just released a balanced budget that wipes out the deficit this year AND next — while protecting health care and safety nets.
Meanwhile, Trump ADDED $2.4 TRILLION to the federal deficit with his “Big Beautiful Betrayal.”
Republicans…
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) May 15, 2026
He claimed, “Republicans ruin budgets. Democrats balance them.”
Here’s the thing about Newsom’s annual “balanced budget” ritual: state law requires him to present one every year.
You won’t hear this from a sociopath and a serial liar like Gavin Newsom:
By state law Newsom has to present a “balanced budget” each year BUT here’s his actual budget results at fiscal year end from Newsom’s last 3 years as Governor.
– FY 2023-24: ~$27–38 billion budget…
— Steve Eisner (@DoTheRightWing) May 15, 2026
He pulls the same trick every year.
In May 2022, Newsom announced a huge $97.5 billion surplus. Sounds great, right? But by November, California was staring down a $25 billion deficit.
Here’s how Gavin does budgets. He cooks the books to tell stories and then reality hits a few months later.
These clips are six months apart. pic.twitter.com/iIqagvHrPX
— MAZE (@mazemoore) May 15, 2026
The gap between what Newsom announces and what actually materializes isn’t just a rounding error in the books; it’s deliberate deception.
And Newsom knows exactly what he’s doing.
Here’s how Newsom is going to play it.
He wants credit for projecting a balanced budget by 2028. He leaves office in January, so the onus is on his successor to follow through. This means that when Newsom is out there campaigning for president, and people tell him he left California in a multibillion-dollar hole, he can say, “Well, I left my successor a balanced budget.”
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That’s the magic trick. Announce the balance, pocket the soundbite, leave town in pursuit of the White House. It’s a financial sleight of hand, aided by timing.
California has hemorrhaged population, watched businesses flee, and run up deficits, while Newsom has spent time positioning himself as the future of the Democratic Party. A $21 billion surplus squandered, and soon he’ll be asking Americans to trust him with the federal budget. His own state’s analysts and independent economists aren’t sold on the numbers he’s presenting now, and there’s no particular reason voters in the other 49 states should be, either.
The “balanced budget” Newsom is boasting about is nothing but a campaign ad. The math just doesn’t cooperate.
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