In the first year of Trump 2.0, California Attorney General Rob Bonta has been on the front lines of the Golden State’s resistance.

And he doesn’t mince words about it either.

“It’s been busy holding a brazenly, blatantly, consistently and frequently, unfortunately lawless president accountable and making sure that he follows the law and complies with the Constitution,” said Bonta in an interview with Spectrum News Tuesday. 

Over the last year, California has sued the Trump administration 55 times — an average of more than one case a week.

“We protected $188 billion worth of funding, we protected priceless things like our constitutional rights, the right to vote, the right to birthright citizenship, we were able to get a final ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court after six months of fighting tooth and nail, indicating that the National Guard in California was unlawfully federalized,” he rattled off. “We will remain committed, immovable, in our commitment to make sure that the President of the United States follows the law and complies with the Constitution.”

White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson responded with terse words for Bonta.

“Instead of bragging about filing frivolous lawsuits against the Trump administration, the California AG should focus on addressing problems in his own state — like the countless criminal illegal aliens the Newscum Administration allows to roam free and terrorize communities,” she told Spectrum News.

The Golden State has often found itself in the crosshairs of the president and conservative Republicans for its “woke” policies, but Bonta said he expects Trump to ramp up his attacks on California and other blue states in the coming months.

“For a president to be at war — essentially in terms of his attacks, going after blue states and blue jurisdictions — is just so problematic. Presidents are supposed to be the presidents for all Americans,” said Bonta. 

Last week, the White House announced that President Trump signed an executive order to preempt state and local rules for obtaining permits and speed up the rebuilding process following last year’s deadly wildfires.

Bonta said he and his office are monitoring the situation, but said the order “rings hollow.”

“This is a president who has been sitting on almost $34 billion worth of disaster relief that California should have and has not released it,” said Bonta. “Just send the money, provide the disaster relief, the emergency relief. Stop fooling around with permit issues and send the money. It’s simple.”

The Trump administration has also suggested in recent weeks it plans to investigate California and other Democratic-led states for fraud, something Bonta called “purely political.”

“The taxpayer dollars should be protected and defended. I have a whole team that protects and defends those tax dollars and roots out that fraud. It holds people accountable,” he explained. “But the lie here is that the government of California is somehow in on the fraud, and that’s dangerous, reckless, wild, wrong.”

At home, Bonta is also fighting to unmask federal agents in California as immigration raids continue in Democratic cities across the country. The Trump administration has allowed the agents to conceal their faces when conducting raids and making arrests, calling it a safety concern for the agents. A new California law forbids federal officers from covering their face during official business, which is currently being litigated in court.

But Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said last week the mask ban is not something his officers are focused on enforcing.

“The reality of one armed agency approaching another armed agency to create conflict over something that would be a misdemeanor at best or an infraction. It doesn’t make any sense, and it wasn’t well thought out in my opinion,” he explained.

We asked Bonta if he is concerned about local law enforcement agencies not enforcing state law. If the law is upheld by the courts, he said, then yes.

“Every police department, sheriff’s department and even prosecutor’s offices – they have a level of discretion as to what crimes they focus on. Oftentimes they focus more on the more serious and violent crimes, the felonies more than the misdemeanors. But misdemeanors are crimes, too, and they’re there to prevent a certain type of behavior,” said Bonta. “I expect the law to be complied with and, if necessary, enforced.”

His office was coy about what sort of enforcement action it would consider if the law was upheld and state law enforcement agencies declined to enforce it.

Bonta’s office is one he hopes to reside in a while longer; he announced in January he would run for re-election, rather than launching a bid for governor. 

“I believe my place is here on the front lines, in the trenches, head down, sleeves rolled up, pushing back against a Trump administration that is so unlawful so often, and is hurting Californians, or at least trying to,” he explained of his decision.

But just because he decided not to jump into the race doesn’t mean he doesn’t have strong opinions on what a successful candidate for the office looks like. Bonta suggested the state’s next chief executive must be a fighter who “has a meaningful and measurable record of success,” understands state government, and who “can hit the ground running instead of trying to find the bathrooms on day one.”

He previously said he would support former Vice President Kamala Harris or Sen. Alex Padilla if they threw their hats in the ring, suggesting they have the experience to push back on this Trump administration.

When asked if he sees any of the Democrats in the crowded field fit the mold he described, he diplomatically suggested the answer was no.

“If the voters felt that that person was in the race, there would be a consolidation of support behind a candidate,” he said. “It’s wide open. There’s a lot of undecided voters.”

“Maybe as we move forward and voters get to know the candidates more, and the candidates share their vision and share their records, someone might emerge. But I don’t think the voters have seen that person yet,” Bonta continued.

But he also poked some fun at himself in the process, saying he would probably hold off on endorsing anyone for the position for a while.

“I endorsed Kamala before she got in, hoping she’d get in, and she didn’t. I endorsed Alex Padilla before he got in, hoping he’d get in, and he didn’t,” he chuckled. “I don’t want to prevent anyone else from getting into the race.”