Trump met with Govs. Greg Abbott (R-TX) at the White House on Wednesday before hours later sitting down with one of his preferred political punching bags, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA).

During Wednesday’s briefing, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt described Abbott “as a great friend and ally to the president,” who has been “on the front lines of the border crisis in this country.”

“As for Gov. Gavin Newsom, well, the president is willing to work with anybody from blue states or red states to do what’s best for the American people,” Leavitt told reporters.

For California Democratic strategist Garry South, the Abbott and Newsom meetings represented “a gubernatorial odd couple if there ever was one.”

“California and Texas are the biggest and second-biggest states in population, so it makes some sense in that regard,” South told the Washington Examiner. “

Claremont McKenna College politics professor and former Republican strategist John Pitney agreed, arguing, “For all his bluster, Trump cannot ignore California completely.”

“Although it is heavily Democratic, six million Californians voted for him last year,” Pitney told the Washington Examiner. “Republican celebrities and campaign contributors have a stake in issues such as disaster response. The Pacific Palisades fire burned a house belonging to one of Trump’s Hollywood ambassadors, Mel Gibson.”

The Pacific Palisades fire was one of 17 wildfires that, as of the end of last month, had killed at least 29 people, forced more than 200,000 residents to evacuate, and destroyed or damaged more than 18,000 homes or structures.

Trump has criticized Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass for their reaction to the fires, including their water policies, which he has claimed deprived Southern California of what it required to put out the fires after complaints some hydrants were dry. The president even signed an executive order underscoring that “it is the policy of the United States to provide Southern California with necessary water resources, notwithstanding actively harmful State or local policies.”

“Consulting with the governor can also prevent embarrassing episodes such as last week’s release of 2 billion gallons of water,” Pitney said. “None of the water came within 200 miles of the Los Angeles fire zone, and most of it will end up being wasted.”

But Northeastern University political science professor Costas Panagopoulos downplayed the apparent appearance of bipartisanship on Trump’s part.

“There have been few other indications of efforts to tone down the partisan rhetoric or appear bipartisan on Trump’s part,” Panagopoulos told the Washington Examiner.

To that end, Trump is continuing to “apply tremendous pressure” on Newsom and Bass to permit property owners access to their respective property and remains “committed to ensuring that these individuals get the funding that they need,” Leavitt said.

“[Trump] felt very inspired by the frustration of the residents there, and he has been wholeheartedly committed to ensuring that the water is flowing in California to prevent these wildfires and also that people have access to their properties,” the press secretary said. “This president will continue to an Americans first, and I think the successes of this week so far speak to that.”

Although the meetings were closed to the press, both governors previewed their sit-downs with Trump on social media, with Abbott, who attended the president’s signing of the “No Men in Women’s Sports” executive order in the East Room, taking reporter questions after.

“We, again, talked about what was maybe the most pivotal issue in his campaign, the one that Americans wanted to make sure he got elected on, and that it was securing the border,” Abbott said.

Abbott added that Texas was poised to add another 20 miles of border wall “in the coming days” and that the state government had two military bases, one in Eagle Pass and another in Del Rio, and 4,000 jail cells that it could make available to its federal counterpart. The governor will return to Washington, D.C., next week as he tries to be reimbursed $11 billion for countering “unprecedented illegal crossings.”

Newsom had earlier engagements too, including meetings with lawmakers on Capitol Hill, before his sit-down with Trump, becoming the first Democrat to do so at the White House.

“In Washington D.C. today to meet with President @realDonaldTrump and Congress to help secure disaster aid for LA,” Newsom wrote on social media. “We will not stop working until everyone impacted by the fires has the resources they need to rebuild and recover.”

The Newsom meeting was particularly notable after Trump stopped short of repeating his nickname for the California governor, “Newscum,” after his trip to the Golden State in January.

“I spoke with Gavin Newsom and he’s very happy,” Trump said this week from behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office. “I almost called him by the other name, my little nickname for him, but I think they’re all happy. They have a lot of water in California. Too bad we didn’t have it about two months ago.”

Trump placed his political differences with Newsom to one side during his hourslong itinerary in California at the end of his first week of being president again to survey the destruction wreaked in and around Los Angeles by the fires.

Earlier that Friday, Trump had traveled to North Carolina to tour areas of the state recovering from last fall’s floods after Hurricane Helene. There, the president announced he is considering conditioning federal California fire aid on water management and voter identification law reform.

“I want to see two things in Los Angeles: voter ID so that the people have a chance to vote, and I want to see the water be released and come down into Los Angeles and throughout the state,” Trump told reporters in the Tar Heel State.

Hours later, Newsom welcomed Trump to Los Angeles International Airport, where the men appeared deferential to one another despite photographs being taken of the governor’s assertive body language.

“Thank you for being here,” Newsom told Trump in front of reporters. “It means a great deal to all of us, not just the folks in the Palisades, the folks in Altadena that were devastated. We’re going to need your support. We’re going to need your help. You were there for us during COVID. I don’t forget that. And I have all the expectations that we’ll be able to work together to get the speedy recovery.”

Trump replied, “We’re looking to get something completed, and the way you get it completed is to work together as the governor of the state.”