Freshman wishlist: Adam Schiff vs. Trump 2.0
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Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Sen. Adam Schiff has some advice for President Trump when attempting to demean him: Pick one nickname.
Why it matters: Schiff rose to cable TV stardom as an anti-Trump foil while leading the first impeachment. "Shifty Schiff" or "Watermelon Head" learned to give as good as he got.
Trump called Schiff names. Schiff ensured he was impeached — twice.
- "[T]he cardinal rule of nicknames is: Just stick with one," Schiff told Axios in an interview.
- Schiff translated his MAGA notoriety into a safe Senate seat, first battling through a tough, expensive primary. Now he's ready for round two with Trump.
- "I've been thrust back into a lot of that responsibility again because what he's trying to do in the second term is even worse than what he tried to do in the first term," Schiff said.
Zoom out: Before Trump dominated the national conversation, Schiff considered himself a fairly nonpartisan national security expert.
- He endorsed Jim Mattis for Secretary of Defense in 2016 when other Democrats didn't.
- Schiff had hoped for another rebrand in the Senate. "I was expecting a Biden or a Harris presidency, and the ability to just focus exclusively on what positive things I could get done," he told Axios.
What to watch: He is enjoying visiting redder areas of the state after spending years representing just a slice of heavily Democratic Los Angeles.
He shared about one such visit in the state's northeast.
- "I knew I had made progress when one of the farmers looked at me and said, 'I don't know why he calls you watermelon head. You have a perfectly normal-sized head.'"
- But it's doubtful he'll revert back to a less partisan posture, given the direction of Trump's second term.
Driving the news: Two days after our interview, Trump deployed National Guard troops to tamp down on ICE protests in Los Angeles in opposition to Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.).
- "This action is designed to inflame tensions, sow chaos, and escalate the situation," Schiff posted on X on Saturday.
- He also repeatedly called for violence to stop at protests. "Assaulting law enforcement is never ok," he posted Sunday.
Zoom in: Schiff tried to pass a resolution shortly before our interview to stop the administration from stripping civil rights leader Harvey Milk's name from a Navy ship.
- He has demanded financial disclosures from the White House, written letters to stop DOGE from shutting down USDA offices and tried to block the repeal of EV rules.
- "Most of my days are spent trying to walk this line between stopping the administration from violating the law and ignoring the Constitution on the one hand," Schiff said, "and continuing to deliver for Californians..."
Schiff recognizes that his clashes altered his career trajectory.
- "I have my brand pre-Trump and my brand post-Trump," Schiff told Axios.
Between the lines: Schiff's leadership in the House's first Trump impeachment made him a mortal enemy to Trump and his allies, leading to a "weirdly personal" dynamic, Schiff said.
- That personal animosity is exacerbated by Trump's frustrations with some of California's blue state policies.
- "There's no question that the administration is very hostile to California," Schiff said.
- At various points, Trump has threatened disaster relief funding, flood projects, a high speed rail, EV incentives and the state's large immigrant population.
- California punches back and is often one of the first to sue the administration for its actions. Gov. Newsom has said he will challenge Trump's National Guard deployment in court.
