In late July 2026, Steve Hilton bought a full-page ad in the San Francisco Chronicle and put a new television spot on the air. The message was aimed at a very specific voter: the Californian who might consider a Republican but can't stand the President.

His framing, in his own words:

"I get it: maybe you hate Trump, MAGA or whatever."

And the fuller pitch:

"I'm just trying to be very honest and clear with people and say, look, I'm not an ideologue. I'm a pragmatic problem solver with business experience. Government reform experience. Yes, it's true. I'm a Republican. It's true that I was on Fox News. I'm endorsed by Trump. That's all true. But it's also true that I've got some positive, practical plans to make life better."

It's a smart ad. Acknowledging the elephant is better than pretending it isn't in the room.

The question is whether "I get it, maybe you hate Trump" is a change of position or a change of audience.

What he was saying before

Rewind to August 2025. Hilton sat down with Politico and made the opposite pitch — that his closeness to the administration is the product.

"Yeah, we do have a relationship."

"I have good personal relationships with cabinet members."

"I think I would be a good champion for California with the current administration."

He'd met the previous week with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins.

And he hasn't dropped that argument now — he's just reframed it as a benefit for skeptics. Asked in July 2026 whether Trump's endorsement helps or hurts, he said:

"No, I think it's a positive thing... you'll have a governor with a good relationship with the president and his team and the rest of the administration."

"There's so many things where it would be better for Californians if we had a more constructive relationship with the federal government."

So the actual offer to the anti-Trump voter is: I'll be a better channel to the man you don't like.

Not "I'll fight him when he's wrong." Not "here's where I've broken with him." A more constructive relationship.

The relevant question for a California governor

It matters because of what the job now is.

California's governor spends a large share of their time in conflict with this administration — over immigration enforcement, over environmental waivers, over federal funding. Every one of those is a fight where the state's leverage comes from a governor willing to say no, publicly, and litigate.

Hilton's pitch is that he wouldn't have to fight because he'd have a relationship. That's a real theory of governing. It's just the opposite of what he's implying to the voter who "hates Trump" — that person is not looking for a smoother channel to the White House. They're looking for a brake.

Nothing in the ad campaign says he'd apply one. He's not distancing himself from a single Trump policy. He's asking to be judged separately from the man while explicitly selling access to him.

He's been asked directly, and he answered

We don't have to guess where Hilton lands when a reporter pins him down, because it's already happened.

Asked whether he supports Trump's immigration enforcement tactics, Hilton said: "Everybody supports -- I can't imagine a single person who doesn't support what's been done to close our southern border and stop this absolutely outrageous undermining of the law we saw in the Biden years."

That's the enforcement operation national security officials described to ProPublica as "an unfettered and unaccountable national police force" — the one that has held more than 170 U.S. citizens against their will. Hilton's answer wasn't that he had concerns. It was that he couldn't imagine anyone objecting.

Trump returned the favor with a "COMPLETE & TOTAL ENDORSEMENT."

You cannot say "everybody supports" the immigration crackdown in one interview and "I get it, maybe you hate Trump" in the next ad and have both be the real position. One of them is for a different set of voters.

What "pragmatic problem solver" is doing in that sentence

The rest of the pitch deserves a look too.

Hilton describes himself as "not an ideologue" with "business experience" and "government reform experience," which is a lot of adjectives and no specifics. In the same breath he lists the specifics that do exist — "I'm a Republican," "I was on Fox News," "I'm endorsed by Trump" — and asks you to weigh them against the adjectives.

"Pragmatic problem solver" is a description, not a record. It's being offered precisely in place of the record.

The honest version of his ad would be: I'm a Republican, Trump endorsed me, I support his immigration policy, and I'd use my relationship with his cabinet on California's behalf. Every word of that is something he has already said out loud. It just doesn't fit in a full-page ad aimed at people who hate Trump.

Steve Hilton is running two campaigns at once — one that sells access to this administration and one that asks you not to hold it against him. California should make him pick. We deserve better.

Sources

• In California governor's race, Steve Hilton looks to court voters wary of President Donald Trump — ABC7 News, July 23, 2026. Photo: ABC7.
• California gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton touts 'personal relationship' with Trump admin — Tyler Katzenberger, Politico, August 27, 2025