President Donald Trump and California Gov. Gavin Newsom have found common ground in attacking the California Coastal Commission, tasked with protecting roughly 1,100 miles of ocean coastline, reports The New York Times.
Ric Grenell, a top Trump aide, last month said the agency "needs to absolutely be defunded."
He also echoed Trump's calls for "conditions" for wildfire recovery aid, saying "we are going to have strings on the money that we give to California."
Newsom, a Democrat whose term expires in 2026, last year criticized the commission's decision to block a Department of Defense proposal to expand the number of SpaceX launches at Vandenberg Space Force Base.
"I'm with Elon [Musk]," Newsom said in an interview with Politico.
"I didn't like that."
Musk sued the agency in October, alleging it "engaged in naked political discrimination" when commissioners cited his support for Trump in rejecting the proposal.
"Look, I'm not helping the legal case," Newsom added. "You can't bring up that explicit level of politics."
In January, Newsom issued an executive order directing the agency to suspend permitting requirements for property owners in fire-stricken Los Angeles and Ventura counties while chiding it for issuing guidance "that purports to apply the California Coastal Act's statutory permit exemption provision, which generally triggers additional local approval procedures and potential appeals, to projects covered" by his previous orders.
Trump in January during a forum with fire victims in Los Angeles said he had "dealt with the Coastal Commission for a long time and they are considered the most difficult in the entire country."
"We cannot have them play their games and wait 10 years to give somebody a permit. In fact, I'm going to override the Coastal Commission."
Rep. Laura Friedman, D-Calif., has pushed back on criticism of the agency.
"They protect access to the beach for ordinary citizens. They push back on millionaires and billionaires who try to block the sand and tell kids that they can't sit behind their house, breaking California law," Friedman said.
"They push back against Elon Musk and his constant SpaceX launches and say, 'You have to work with the Coastal Commission to minimize the impact of these launches.'"
Said Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.: "Republicans say they're for states' rights — and they are until they're not — until it's politically expedient to say, well, we want a Bigfoot local or state government. That's really not what you do in the wake of a disaster."
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.