Will Gavin Newsom’s trip to Israel and China help raise his national stature?

Whether he likes it or not, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s trip to China and Israel is widely viewed in the political world as another crucial step in his methodical journey to presidential candidate status.

The trip was the sort of ritual White House hopefuls without foreign policy experience have been making for decades as they try to show they can play on the world stage.

For Newsom, the trip “elevates his status to the kind of person who sits across from world leaders,” said Thad Kousser, a professor of political science at the University of California, San Diego.

That said, it also exposes him to fresh ridicule from opponents. Fox News Channel’s widely watched “The Five” spent about five minutes Wednesday firing away at the man co-host Greg Gutfeld called “Greasy Gav”.

Newsom has been on a week-long foreign trip that included Israel, where he met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and visited a hospital to meet with victims of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.

The governor next traveled to China, where he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Vice President Han Zheng.

The trip was not paid for by taxpayers but by the Oakland-based nonprofit The California State Protocol Foundation, an organization that funds trips by California governors and is funded, in part, through donations made on the governor’s behalf.

The same organization paid for Newsom’s first international trip to El Salvador in 2019, but the foundation refused to tell The Sacramento Bee how much it cost.

Newsom has repeatedly denied he has any interest in running for president next year, stressing he’s a strong supporter of President Joe Biden. He’s seen as a top candidate in 2028, when the field is expected to be wide open.

When asked about the backlash and speculation of a larger personal agenda, Newsom spokesperson Daniel Lopez said in a statement that the trip was “vital to advancing real climate action and cooperation between California and China.”

“Our work with China goes back more than 15 years, spanning both Republican and Democratic administrations, because we can’t tackle the climate crisis alone,” the statement continued. “We need partners like China — the world’s largest emitter of pollution — in this fight.”

Five takeaways from Newsom’s trip

▪ IIt will help establish Newsom’s foreign policy credentials.

That’s not always a good thing. Sometimes when governors attempt to serve as diplomats it doesn’t work. Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican nominee and former Massachusetts governor, received dismal reviews that year for his election-year trip to Great Britain and Israel. Among other things, he questioned whether the British were ready to host that year’s Summer Olympics.

The aim of such trips is to look statesmanlike and steer away from controversy. That means reaction to the trip and images of him face to face with world leaders will be important for Newsom.

“Foreign policy acquaintance is one of those checkoffs” that a candidate without diplomatic experience feels he has to make, said Dennis Goldford, a political science professor at Drake University in Des Moines. Iowa is traditionally the site of the nation’s first presidential caucuses.

▪ It gives Newsom’s critics fresh material.

They’ve been at it since the trip began. First came a letter from California’s House Republicans, urging him to cancel the trip. They criticized how Newsom said he planned to focus on climate.

“Federalism should not serve as an excuse for you to avoid having difficult conversations about the Communist Chinese Party’s gross violations of human rights and documented genocide of ethnic minorities,” they wrote. Newsom did discuss human rights with China’s foreign minister and vice president.

Friday, Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Rocklin, posted an item on his blog about Newsom titled “Xi’s Apprentice.” Kiley said the trip has produced some “bizarre scenes.” And, Kiley said, “Newsom is now running a full-fledged presidential campaign-in-waiting, no longer even pretending to defer to Biden..”

On Fox, the criticism was more barbed.

“China is grooming Newsom and Newsom is enjoying being groomed,” said commentator Jesse Watters on “The Five.”

“Newsom says he’s trying to find common ground on climate change,” said co-host Greg Gutfeld. “Yeah, right.”

▪ Newsom may not have emphasized human rights enough.

Sixty advocacy groups wrote to Newsom before his trip urging him to discuss human rights.

“A commitment to protecting the climate and diversity should include strong support for human rights. Governor Newsom should speak up for them in China,” said Maya Wang, associate director of Human Rights Watch, before the trip.

Newsom’s office Wednesday issued a statement explaining his “topics of discussion also included human rights violations and anti-democratic efforts in Hong Kong, Tibet, Xinjiang and Taiwan, as well as David Lin, a California pastor who has been imprisoned in China since 2006.”

Human Rights Watch did not respond to requests for comment.

▪ Newsom’s effort to emphasize climate issues is an important step for American interests.

The primary stated goal before Newsom left for the trip was “advancing climate collaboration between California and China,” specifically related to developing heavy-duty electric vehicles, curbing methane emissions, navigating the clean energy transition and promoting biodiversity, according to a release from his office. The Newsom administration also hoped to encourage tourism, increase economic development, strengthen cultural relationships and combat anti-Asian hate, according to an FAQ released by the governor’s office.

The trip’s impact on some of those issues may never be fully understood, but Newsom — through the establishment of new or renewed climate partnerships and discussions with the country’s top leaders — set out to make good on those goals.

The governor signed five separate memoranda of understanding with Chinese leaders that covered a range of climate policies and actions — including vows to advance efforts to achieve carbon neutrality and agreements to meet and share research on pollution prevention and climate mitigation.

Standing at the Great Wall of China on one of the last days of the trip, Newsom told Fox LA reporter Elex Michaelson that his biggest takeaway from the trip was to “tear down the walls and recognize the differences.”

▪ The trip is unlikely to translate into votes if Newsom runs for president.

Seven of the last nine presidents have arguably had little foreign policy experience. Donald Trump was a businessman, Barack Obama was in the Senate for four years, Gerald Ford was a congressman from Michigan and the other four were governors before reaching the White House.

President Joe Biden was a senator for 36 years, and chairman or top Democrat at the Foreign Relations Committee for 12 years. The committee considers diplomatic appointments, reviews policies and treaties.

Rarely, though, does foreign policy or diplomatic experience sway an election.

“Should the political landscape change and he wants to have some of his potential weaknesses plugged up, if you’re a governor the international references are helpful,” said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist Poll, a New York-based national survey.

Even a furor over human rights is unlikely to hurt him, he said. Newsom presides over the world’s fourth largest economy, and China is second to the United States. So Newsom can emphasize other things.

“He’ll say he was talking economics,” Miringoff said.