California Gov. Gavin Newsom was told by the White House at the height of the coronavirus pandemic that he’d have to personally appeal to and express gratitude to President Donald Trump if he wanted the federal government to help his state get swabs for COVID-19 testing, The New York Times reports. Sources cited by the Times say it was White House adviser Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, who voiced the apparent quid pro quo in April. Kushner reportedly told one of Newsom’s advisers that the administration could aid in getting 350,000 swabs for the state if the governor would call up Trump and personally request his assistance. “The governor of California, Gavin Newsom, had to call Donald Trump, and ask him for the swabs,” Bob Kocher, an adviser to Newsom and former White House health care official under Obama, told the Times. Newsom, who was also reportedly told he would have to thank the president, held a press conference later that same day where he credited Trump with the “substantial increase in supply.”
