MAGA makes its pitch to L.A.’s deep-blue Westside
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Good morning. Here’s what you need to know to start your day.
- MAGA Republicans march into Beverly Hills looking for new allies.
- President Trump’s first 100 days in his second term have been a blitz of executive orders, job and spending cuts, and global tariffs, in pursuit of expanded presidential power.
- If you’re a breakfast burrito fan, there’s no better pocket of Los Angeles to reside in than Pasadena, writes food columnist Jenn Harris.
- And here’s today’s e-newspaper.
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Trump supporters rally to court discontent Democrats
After Donald Trump’s reelection last year, the Democratic Party has been criticized as out of touch, fragmented and rudderless.
MAGA Republicans looked to capitalize on that over the weekend with a rally aimed at courting disaffected Democrats in liberal Los Angeles County, meeting in West Hollywood and then marching into Beverly Hills.
The Sunday rally, dubbed the “American Restoration Tour,” was organized by members of the #WalkAway movement, which is encouraging voters to leave the Democratic Party.
Although Democrat Kamala Harris won California’s electoral votes in last year’s presidential election, her margin declined from Joe Biden’s 2020 victory. And down ballot, voters challenged the Golden State’s deep blue reputation by rejecting some progressive efforts aimed at affordable housing, income inequality and criminal justice reform.
Given Democrats’ current identity crisis, it’s not surprising that conservatives, many still riding the high of Trump’s victory, are making their pitch and making it here.
The rally was held in Beverly Gardens Park, which “has been the site of frequent demonstrations in support of Trump,” Times reporters Lila Seidman and Seema Mehta wrote this week.
“Although much of the affluent Westside skews liberal, Beverly Hills is home to neighborhoods that repeatedly voted for Trump,” they noted.
The rally drew a few hundred attendees and began as a march in the city of West Hollywood. Diners in the LGBTQ+ enclave who gathered for brunch and drag queen performances got a different show as Trump supporters marched along Santa Monica Boulevard.
The MAGA march was met with a slightly larger number of counterprotesters, who gathered nearby, yelling, “No KKK! No fascist USA! No Trump!” The event stayed mostly peaceful, my colleagues reported, other than a small fight and an arrest at the rally in Beverly Hills.
There was a common thread linking many of the speakers, Seema and Lila reported: “former liberals who felt disenfranchised by the Democratic Party and became full-throated Trump supporters.”
That included actress Natalie Beisner, who said she voted for Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, but rethought her political views in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns. Beisner told the crowd that she was called racist and selfish for raising concerns that protesters against the murder of George Floyd were allowed to gather en masse but she was not allowed to be with her grandmother as she died.
“These people refused to acknowledge that I might have an honest reason for disagreeing with them. There was no conversation,” Beisner said. “So I walked away from the Democrat Party because for the first time in my life, I connected my suffering directly to Democrat policies.”
Also among the rally’s speakers was former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, now based in San Diego, where he hosts a political show.
“They are the movement that allowed this great state to burn,” Gaetz told the crowd, referring to Democrats. “They are the movement that turned what was paradise over to the homeless and illegal aliens.”
Democratic defectors to the MAGAverse would be welcomed “with a patriotic embrace,” Gaetz added.
One thing that didn’t come up during the rally: the Department of Justice’s investigation into Gaetz for allegations of child sex trafficking, which did not lead to charges.
Gaetz resigned from Congress in November and withdrew himself from consideration to be U.S. attorney general after his nomination by then-President-elect Trump. The House Ethics Committee reported late last year that it had found evidence that Gaetz abused drugs and paid for sex with a minor during his tenure in Congress.
Today’s top stories
‘Disrupt, break, defund’: Trump’s imperial first 100 days
- President Trump’s first 100 days in his second term have been a blitz of executive orders, job and spending cuts, and global tariffs, in pursuit of expanded presidential power.
- His second term in the White House has proved a stark departure from his first because, this time around, he is testing whether any limits exist on executive authority.
LAFD’s DEI bureau drew the right’s ire. It’s now on the chopping block
- The Los Angeles Fire Department’s Equity Bureau was created to help recruit more women and make the LAFD “safe and supportive for all.” Less than 4% of city firefighters are women.
- Now, Mayor Bass has proposed folding the bureau into the Professional Standards Division amid a maelstrom of budget cuts, a flurry of criticism from conservative media and the targeting of DEI by the Trump administration.
Trump’s support is dropping nationwide and across demographics, polls show
- President Trump enjoyed the highest approval ratings of his political career when he entered office in January, with roughly half the country supportive of his return.
- Yet, 100 days into his second term, he has fallen to polling lows similar to those that challenged his presidency the first time around.
What else is going on
- About 55,000 L.A. County workers go on strike, disrupting services.
- Bay Area tech workers thought their jobs were safe. Then the ‘golden handcuffs’ came off.
- An emergency landslide and erosion repairs halt trains through San Clemente for several weeks.
- Part of Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu burn area reopens after a weekend storm causes debris flow.
- Flames will appear above the Pacific Palisades again. This time to see what caused January’s deadly fire.
- California has sued Trump 15 times in his first 100 days. Where do those cases stand?
- Beyoncé launches the Cowboy Carter tour at SoFi Stadium,
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Commentary and opinions
- Republicans are plotting to cut the federal match for Medicaid expansion, which could cost states as much as $600 billion and leave 20 million Americans uninsured, writes columnist Michael Hiltzik.
- Out of food and under constant attack, we Gazans are dying every day, writes guest columnist Nour Khalil AbuShammala.
- Potential Trump administration funding cuts at NASA would take a blowtorch to space science and American leadership in space, argues guest columnist Christopher Cokinos.
This morning’s must reads
Can $1,000 a month help more students land nursing careers? An L.A. pilot effort says yes. L.A. Community College District is giving more than 200 low-income students $1,000 a month in unrestricted income in hopes of keeping them enrolled and helping deliver a more diverse and multilingual healthcare workforce.
Other must reads
- 50 years after the fall of Saigon, Vietnam tweaks the story of its victory.
- How Trump’s FCC chairman is stoking the culture war.
How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to [email protected].
For your downtime
Going out
- 🪭 Inside the daring L.A. party that’s like Studio 54 for ‘the dreamers and the outcasts.’
- 🌯 If you’re a breakfast burrito fan, there’s no better pocket of Los Angeles to reside in than Pasadena, writes food columnist Jenn Harris.
- 🎭 ‘Dead Outlaw,’ a musical about a famous corpse discovered in Long Beach, makes its way to Broadway.
Staying in
- 📖 Bestselling mystery novel ‘Listen for the Lie’ is coming to TV.
- 🥐 Here’s a recipe for chocolate croissant pudding.
- ✏️ Get our free daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and arcade games.
And finally ... your photo of the day
Show us your favorite place in California! Send us photos you have taken of spots in California that are special — natural or human-made — and tell us why they’re important to you.
Today’s great photo is from Times photographer Myung J. Chun at the 2025 Los Angeles Times Festival of Books.
Have a great day, from the Essential California team
Ryan Fonseca, reporter
Andrew Campa, Sunday reporter
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Christian Orozco, assistant editor
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters
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