Donald Trump

A person in a blue suit and red tie sits with his hands folded at a wooden table with a microphone in front of them. In the background is a row of people looking ahead in a large office room.

Health

Biden let California get creative with Medicaid spending. Trump is signaling that may end

California uses Medicaid to pay for a range of nontraditional health care services, including housing. The Trump administration wants to scale back those programs.

By Kristen Hwang • April 24, 2025

A person speaks at a podium labeled “World’s Largest Aerial Firefighting Fleet” in front of a CAL FIRE aircraft. They wear a dark jacket with a CAL FIRE patch and stand in front of a group of uniformed personnel. The setting appears to be an aircraft hangar or similar indoor facility.

Politics

How Gavin Newsom is balancing the fight against Trump with Los Angeles fire relief

Gov. Gavin Newsom reset his relationship with President Donald Trump after the Los Angeles fires, but he has yet to secure the disaster aid he wants. Now new political pressures are pushing California’s governor back into confrontation with Trump.

By Alexei Koseff • April 24, 2025

A low angle photo of a person wearing a polo shirt standing in a field of green crops with a gray cloudy sky in the background. In the foreground, just out of focus is a close-up view of a worker picking crops in orange overalls and a hoodie.

Economy

How Trump tariffs could upend California farms, wine businesses and ports

From higher costs to export worries, California’s agricultural and wine industries face many possible tariff effects. But some hope for opportunity.

By Levi Sumagaysay • April 23, 2025

A row of stacked white shipping containers with the word 'Matson' printed on them dominates the background. In the foreground, parts of a semi-truck and a red shipping container are visible. The scene is set along a hillside with sparse greenery under a clear blue sky.

Commentary

California’s economy was already sluggish before Trump’s global tariffs

California's high unemployment rate and job losses in private industries predated President Trump's global trade crusade.

By Dan Walters • April 22, 2025

A child wearing a blue shirt and light blue jeans sits on a twin bed next to their mom, who wears a blue-striped blouse and blue jeans.

K-12 Education

Trump is dismantling the education department. How that might harm special education

Special education is shifting to a different federal agency. Advocates fear the loss of expertise will harm students.

By Carolyn Jones • April 21, 2025

Students walking out of their classes through the hallways at West Hills College Coalinga on Oct. 9, 2023. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local

Higher Education

Trump policy targeting immigrants shuts California students out of federal programs

Federal programs offer financial aid and counseling to low-income and first-generation college students. California was allowed to include students without legal status, which the Trump administration is now ending.

By Adam Echelman • April 17, 2025

The Port of Los Angeles on Oct. 2, 2021. Photo by Ted Soqui, Sipa USA via AP Photo

Politics

Newsom takes on Trump over tariffs he says are hurting California

Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta announced the lawsuit Wednesday, saying the tariffs hurt “states, consumers and businesses.”

By Alexei Koseff • April 16, 2025

Students on campus at the University of California, Davis in Davis on Feb. 2, 2022. Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters

Higher Education

Trump administration restores dementia research it gutted as part of its DEI purge

The National Institutes of Health restored a leading University of California researcher’s $36 million grant studying dementia on Friday after terminating it three weeks ago as part of the Trump administration’s DEI purge. The UC says others were restored, too.

By Mikhail Zinshteyn • April 14, 2025

Painted letters and numbers on the asphalt of a school as the feet and shadows of young children can be seen in the background.

K-12 Education

Trump canceled millions in California school grants. The state is suing to reclaim the money

Schools had until March 2026 to spend remaining COVID relief money. The U.S. Department of Education cut those funds, amounting to about $200 million for California K-12 schools.

By Carolyn Jones • April 10, 2025

Justice

Border Patrol to retrain hundreds of California agents on how to comply with the Constitution

After controversial sweeps in Kern County and a CalMatters investigation, the federal government will train agents on when they can stop and arrest people.

By Wendy Fry and Sergio Olmos • April 10, 2025