The Daily Signal - California Collapse: $37 Billion Gone, Trains To Nowhere, and Somehow It’s Still Trump’s Fault | Drew Allen

Episode Date: March 20, 2026

California is a state that God clearly favored. It has towering mountains, endless ocean coastlines, fertile valleys that feed half the country, tech trillions pouring out of Silicon Valley, Hollywood glamor that still captivates the world, and some of the richest farmland anywhere on earth. This place could literally print money if it wanted to. Instead, it has become the world’s most expensive homeless encampment that increasingly resembles a third world country with better Instagram filters. In California, local officials poured $37 billion into the largest open-air drug market in America, built the most expensive train set that never left the toy store, turned the fifth-largest economy in the world into a foreign oil–dependent, price-gouged, blackout-prone laughingstock, and lit the state on fire, quite literally. Yet, if you only listened to Gov. Gavin Newsom and other Sacramento Democrats over the past decade, you’d believe it’s all Donald Trump’s fault, argues Drew Allen on this special video commentary.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Many promotions are available both in-store and online, though some may vary. Let me paint you a picture of modern California. This is a state that God clearly favored. It has towering mountains, endless ocean coastlines, fertile valleys that feed half the country, tech trillions pouring out of Silicon Valley, Hollywood glamour that still captivates the world, and some of the richest farmland anywhere on Earth. This place could literally print money if it wanted to. Instead, it has become the world's most expensive homeless encampment.

Streets in major cities now look like permanent open-air drug markets. Budgets bleed red year after year, even when the broader economy supposedly booming. supposedly booming, and all of this is happening in the fifth largest economy on the planet. And it increasingly resembles a third world country with better Instagram filters. And the people running this once golden paradise, they're too busy screaming about Donald Trump to notice that their own state is on fire, literally. So let's do something Sacramento never does. Democrats certainly don't ever do and engage in.

Let's actually look at the disasters they've created. And after each one asked the only question that matters, what did Donald Trump have to do with that? Hey, everyone, I'm Drew Thomas Allen, the millennial minister of truth. with the Daily Signal. Let me paint you a picture of modern California, okay? This is a state that God clearly favored. It has towering mountains, endless ocean coastlines, fertile valleys that feed half the country, tech trillions pouring out of Silicon Valley, Hollywood glamour that still captivates the world,

and some of the richest farmland anywhere on earth. This place could literally print money if it wanted to. Instead, it has become the world's most expensive homeless encampment. Families are fleeing the state because they can no longer afford a one-bedroom apartment. Streets in major cities now look like permanent open-air drug markets. Schools are failing so badly that many children can't read at grade level. Budgets bleed red year after year, the only thing read in California, even when the broader economy is supposedly booming. Corruption scandals erupt regularly, scandals that would make

even a Chicago alderman blush. And all of this is happening in the fifth largest economy on the planet. The fifth largest economy in the world. And it increasingly resembles a third world country with better Instagram filters. And the people running this once Golden Paradise, they're too busy screaming about Donald Trump to notice that their own state is on fire, literally. Gavin Newsom, perfect hair, perfect teeth, designer wardrobe,

spends his days on cable news, on podcasts, at podiums, and he calls Trump a jackass. He accuses him of madness on Iran. He clutches his pearls over dyslexia comments. He tells every Californian to resist like it's the summer of 1776. It's theater, but it's expensive, taxpayer-funded theater. So let's do something Sacramento never does. Democrats certainly don't ever do and engage in. Let's actually look at the disasters.

they've created. And after each one, asked the only question that matters. What did Donald Trump have to do with that? Corruption. In November 2025, Newsom's former chief of staff, Dana Williamson, was federally indicted. The charges included wire fraud, bank fraud, and conspiracy. She's accused of looting dormant campaign accounts like they were her personal piggy bank. And one of those accounts was even tied to Xavier Bacera, who's running for governor as a Democrat. So this was the governor's own inner circle. FBI warnings were flying through the capital like confetti. What did Donald Trump have to do with that?

That little family business. How about homelessness? Newsom swore he would end it. He spent $37 billion billion with a B of taxpayer money over six years. The result, California still has more homeless people than any other state. Tent cities are bigger than ever. Los Angeles County just slashed $200 million from homeless services simply to plug their own budget hole. Billions went in and misery and fentanyl came out. Some tradeoff.

What did Donald Trump have to do with turning 37 billion dollars into the largest open-air drug market in America? High-speed rail, the gift or grift that keeps on taking, it's been 25 years in the making, $15 billion has already been spent, costs are now rocketing toward $128 billion. There are zero trains. Not one single passenger car has ever moved. The entire project is such an embarrassing world-class joke. What did Donald Trump have to do with the most expensive train set that never left the toy store? Fraud on an industrial scale? Steve Hilton's Kala Fraudia report revealed whistleblowers inside the state government,

inside the state government estimating up to $250 billion, quarter of a trillion dollars in waste, fraud, and abuse. That includes Medi-Cal, housing programs, unemployment insurance, infrastructure. billions are disappearing like they fell into a Sacramento money pit. What did Donald Trump have to do with turning taxpayer dollars into the greatest disappearing act in American history? Energy suicide? California sits on massive oil reserves, but it won't let anyone touch them because

green ideology declares fossil fuels evil incarnate. Refinaries are dying one by one. The state had about 50 in 1980. Now they're just 13. Recent casualties, the Marathon Martinez in 2020, Philip, 66. Rodeo converted. Their huge LA refinery shuttered at the end of 2025, Valero Benicia, phasing out by April 2026. That's almost 20% of the state's refining capacity erased in a couple of years. So now California imports oil from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Ecuador,

while Sacramento piles on the highest gas taxes in the nation, 59.6 cents excise, 13.3 cents cap and trade. Add the others in it's easily over a dollar per gallon in pure state sanction gouging. The result, $6 plus. gas. Blackout threats, every heat wave, utility bills that could finance a small nation. Businesses and families are bolting. What did Donald Trump have to do with turning the fifth largest economy in the world into a foreign oil dependent, price-gouged, blackout-prone laughing stock? How about the wildfires? Decades of letting forests become walking tender boxes because prescribed burns. Thinning projects, they're considered too disruptive by bureaucrats. The

2025 LA fire destroyed thousands of homes and cost tens of billions in damage? What did Donald Trump have to do with turning paradise into a recurring inferno? How about water? Even after back-to-back wet winters, reservoirs are full, drought is officially over, stormwater still rushes straight into the Pacific unused. There are no new dams. The Delta Tunnel is stalled forever by lawsuits and environmental lawfare, groundwater is overpumped. Newsom's latest ambitious plan for more supply by 2040? We've heard ambitious plans before. They usually end up in the same graveyard as a high-speed train. What did Donald Trump have to do with letting California's water run out to sea while farmers go bankrupt and cities brace for the next dry spell? And remember the gym from just a few weeks ago?

Oh, it was good. Newsom on his book tour in Atlanta, he spoke to a predominantly black audience, and he tried to bond with the black people by bragging about his low SAT score and dyslexia. I'm like you. I'm no better than you, he said, with perfect hair. I'm a 960 SAT guy. You've never seen me read a speech because I cannot read a speech. Critics called it patronizing at best, outright insulting at worst. Nikki Minaj, I think, summed it up pretty well. His way of bonding with black people, she said, is to tell them how stupid he is and that he can't read. What did Donald Trump have to do with Newsom's cringe attempt to pander by saying he's just like them in academic struggles? none of it, not one single thing. These are pure, unadulterated Sacramento special one-party rule catastrophes. And here's the punchline that should make every Californian and American laugh through the tears.

The fifth largest economy on earth. And it's starting to look more like a third world country every day. Meanwhile, Donald Trump's actual policies would probably solve half these problems overnight. Deregulation would cut the red tape, strangling housing. strangling businesses, forest thinning, water storage, tax cuts and domestic drilling incentives would drop gas prices without Sacramento's endless tax hikes. Federal backup on law and order would clear encampments and stop revolving door crime. Probes into state corruption would expose the rot Sacramento pretends doesn't even exist. Border security would ease the

crush on Medi-Cal and housing. Common sense. Stuff that works. Instead, Newsom is playing, you national resistance superhero while his state literally burns, floods with tents, and bankrupts its own citizens. So, the next time you hear another anti-Trump tirade from Sacramento, just lean back, take a sip of your overpriced latte, and ask yourself, and ask them, what did Donald Trump have to do with that? Because the answer is nothing. The real question Californians should be asking their governor is, what are you doing about the disasters you created? That's a rhetorical question, obviously, because we all know the answer. Gavin Newsom isn't trying to fix California.

He's using California as a launch pad. He's planning to run for president in 2028, and if he gets his way, he'll take the same failed playbook that has wrecked the golden state, and he'll try to destroy the rest of the country with it. That's the plan. That's always been the plan. So Californians, keep asking the question, Keep demanding answers.

Because if Sacramento gets away with turning the fifth largest economy into a cautionary tale, imagine what they'll do to the other 49 states. Pointing at Washington while your own house is on fire isn't leadership. Democrats, it's a distraction. And the taxpayers are tired of paying for the show. This spring performance auto group invites drivers to upgrade with confidence. From March 26 to 28th, the spring upgrade sales event offers a $1,000 upgrade credit toward any new or pre-owned vehicle.

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