POLITICAL DIVISION, California’s economy and the future of the Democratic party were all subjects that were top of mind at this year’s Bay Area-Silicon Valley Summit, which took place in San Francisco.
Speakers include Gov. Gavin Newsom and President Donald Trump’s former senior counselor Kellyanne Conway, who has remained somewhat under the radar during Trump’s second term, but remains a big supporter of his administration.
The Bay Area-Silicon Valley Summit, formerly known as the Pacific Summit, is an annual gathering of top regional executives, leaders, and elected officials with speeches and panel discussions.
Defending Trump, then and now
Conway, Trump’s campaign manager for the 2016 election and Trump’s senior counselor in his first term, is still on Team Trump as she kicked off the Tuesday’s summit in a speech highlighting what she sees as Trump’s accomplishments.
She defended many of Trump’s decisions related to the Department of Government Efficiency, also known as DOGE, foreign relations, border security, and immigration.
“He’s fixing problems that he didn’t create,” Conway said. “Border crossings are down. The criminality is down. The drugs are fewer.”
As for DOGE, Conway sees it as a means to cut waste, fraud and abuse, as promised.
“That’s really what happened with the DEI in the end,” she said while mentioning the millions of dollars DOGE has cut from initiatives related to DEI, or Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. “People just said, why are you spending money you don’t have on things we don’t need?”
She also attempted to quell concerns over Trump’s sweeping tariffs.
“The two main purposes of tariffs are, number one, to raise revenues and number two, to protect vital American industries and vital American interests,” she said. “He over-negotiates. He asks for 75% tariffs when he’ll settle for 30. He asks for 10 days when he’ll extend for 50. They can negotiate those things when you’re negotiating as a leader of the free world.”
Despite acknowledging her admiration for San Francisco as a leader of innovation in the technology sector, she implied that the city’s politics have turned it in the wrong direction by mentioning former Vice President Kamala Harris who began her political career in the Bay Area.
“You had San Francisco in the White House for four years. You had her at the top of the ticket,” Conway said. “I don’t know that things improved much. Maybe they did, I’ll let you be the judge of that.”
She also discussed her personal interactions with Trump, trying to emphasize a personable side to him as a way to try and break away from the image of a contentious, bullying leader that permeates within the Bay Area.
“I really appreciate the fact that he does want to listen and learn, and this is what I tell people constantly about President Trump,” Conway said. “He’s also just very fun and funny.”
Some audience members listened intently while others were glued to their phones. Several attendees watched with their arms crossed, occasionally giving knowing glances at the person next to them when Conway said something they disagreed with.
Concerning the sense of political divisiveness in the nation, Conway emphasized the need to focus on the issues that those elected on opposite political spectrums agree on.
“It’s so easy, if not lazy, for any of us to constantly focus on the two or three things that we are just so passionate about and will always, always vehemently, viciously disagree with someone else,” she said. “You have to figure out how to work together … how do we do this together? What’s working in some cities?”
‘Reverse’ course under Trump era
Conway’s pro-Trump speech was a deviation from San Francisco’s left-leaning politicians who have repeatedly denounced Trump’s policies and actions so far as president. Case in point, Newsom.
The governor was the closing speaker, and said that under the Trump administration, “It’s America in reverse. These folks want to bring us back to the pre-1960s world on a myriad of issues.”
He discussed how the impact of tariffs, market volatility and a decline in international tourism could lead to a $16 billion decline in state revenues.
“I’m very concerned,” he said. “These tariffs are devastating.”
Though a vocal critic of Trump, liberals have recently derided Newsom’s hardline stance on encampments.
Regarding the state’s housing crisis, Newsom doubled down on his demands that cities clear homeless encampments and meet their housing elements.
“There’s no compassion in allowing these encampments on our streets and sidewalks. It is time for them to step up. So that is the number one priority, and it should be for these cities and counties,” he said.
“It’s the original sin in California. It impacts more things in more ways,” he said, adding that residents have to get used to affordable housing initiatives. “We’ve got to move away from this NIMBY framework.”
Newsom’s take across party lines
Despite his strong disagreements with Trump’s policies, Newsom highlighted the importance of working across party lines and learning from the Republican Party’s success in last year’s election.
“I don’t think we’ve had the humility to understand how badly we did in this last election,” he said. “I think Democrats need to have that mindset. We need to get out of our own damn bubble and with respect, get out of our own way, have some humility and grace with what went right and what went wrong.”
Newsom mentioned how he’s been able to step out beyond party lines by having conversations on his “This is Gavin Newsom” podcast with figures in the right-wing movement, such as Charlie Kirk and Steve Bannon — discussions he was pilloried for in some liberal spaces. Conway mentioned in her speech that she is in discussion with Newsom to potentially be a guest on his podcast, as well.
“Success leaves clues,” Newsom said. “You may not like what Charlie Kirk represents and what’s he doing.”
Newsom also aimed to discredit the narrative that California is in a “doom loop,” an idea that the state is on a downward spiral due to reasons such as homelessness, crime, and the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns.
“California continues to dominate in every major industry,” Newsom said. “What separates the game played here from the game played everywhere else is the scale, scope and the diversity of our economy. That’s why we’re the fourth largest economy in the world, $4.1 trillion a year output.”
Newsom then coined the term “California derangement syndrome,” playing off of the pejorative label used in right-leaning spheres to identify people in constant criticism of Trump, known as TDS, or “Trump derangement syndrome.”
Newsom said CDS is “Twenty-four seven trying to push down and bury the reputation of this state, yet we continue to outperform. We continue to prove this decline is wrong.”
While he admits that the Democratic party needs to identify what setbacks led to its losses in the November 2024 election, he’s optimistic that the party can turn things around ahead of the midterm elections.
“One thing I’m never going to do is give up on my damn party,” he said in closing.” I think the best is yet to come. I think this is an amazing comeback story, and we’re going to start that in the midterms.”
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