California Governor Gavin Newsom unveiled a national billionaire tax proposal Friday as part of what aides confirmed is preparation for a potential presidential campaign, even as he opposes a similar state-level wealth tax that California voters will decide in November.

Presidential Preview With Economic Reset

Newsom released his economic platform through a Substack post, calling for a minimum tax on Americans worth over $100 million to ensure they pay at least the same rate as average workers. The governor frames this as the first component of an economic reset for America agenda, warning that concentration of wealth threatens the system America’s founders designed to prevent power consolidation in few hands. His proposal arrives extremely early in the 2028 presidential cycle but aligns with Democrats embracing economic populism targeting the wealthy.

The California governor, who is term-limited and leaves office January 2027, connects his tax plan to artificial intelligence’s economic impact. He proposes a national public equity fund giving every American a share in wealth generated by AI, rather than limiting benefits to tech companies and investors. An aide said this fund would finance worker transition benefits, universal childcare, free higher education, career training, healthcare, and a national AI industrial strategy.

California Tax Gets Governor’s No Vote

Despite proposing federal wealth taxation, Newsom announced he will vote against California’s ballot measure that would impose a one-time 5% tax on state residents worth over $1 billion. The initiative, backed by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and California Representative Ro Khanna, collected more than 870,000 signatures after Newsom and opponents failed Thursday to negotiate keeping it off the ballot. The governor fears the state tax would drive businesses out of California, citing capital mobility between competing states as a real threat.

Newsom criticized the California proposal for ignoring safety-net clinics, reproductive healthcare providers, housing, childcare, public safety workers, and public universities. He wrote that while he understands the anxiety driving support for the state tax, its narrow focus fails to address broader needs that have powered California’s economy.

Presidential Signals Intensify

The policy rollout follows Newsom’s increasingly explicit presidential positioning. Last week he released a video discussing what he described as a Justice Department investigation into his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, claiming Donald Trump targets him because he is considering a presidential run. CNN confirmed the investigation earlier in June, though a source familiar with the probe disputed that Trump-appointed leadership in Washington launched it. Newsom also proposes rewriting inheritance rules to prevent what he calls the largest intergenerational wealth transfer in human history from creating a permanent American aristocracy of inherited wealth.