Gov. Jerry Brown (D) wants President Trump to take a detour to California’s Central Valley this week to visit a high-speed rail line under construction during the president’s first trip to the Golden State since taking office.
Brown, who has emerged as one of Trump’s most prominent antagonists, asked Trump to visit Fresno and Madera, where workers are building bridges and viaducts that will eventually connect Los Angeles and the Bay Area via high-speed rail.
“In California we are focusing on bridges, not walls. And that’s more than just a figure of speech,” Brown wrote in a letter to Trump on Monday.
Brown cited Trump’s complaints that the nation does not have the same kind of high-speed rail lines as countries like Japan and China.
“Well Mr. President, in California we are trying to fix that. We have a world-class train system under construction. We invite you to come aboard and truly ‘Make America Great Again,’” Brown wrote.
Trump heads to San Diego Tuesday to inspect prototypes for a wall on the southern border. His first presidential visit to the nation’s largest state comes nearly 14 months after he took office. Trump was the first president not to visit California during his first year on the job since Dwight Eisenhower.
But that’s not to say Trump hasn’t paid attention to California, where he won a smaller vote share than any Republican presidential nominee in history. The administration has had a contentious relationship with California lawmakers and sued the state just last week over three laws it says makes federal immigration enforcement more difficult.
State Democrats have also complained about an initiative to open coastal waters to offshore drilling, and the Republican tax plan which limits deductions for state and local taxes.
In an unusually heated press conference last week, the ordinarily staid Brown lashed out at Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who announced the lawsuit against California just blocks from the state capital in Sacramento.
“This is basically going to war against the state of California, the engine of the American economy. It’s not wise, it’s not right and it will not stand,” Brown said.
Brown and Trump have no plans to meet during the president’s trip to California, which includes a planned stop in Los Angeles.