Governor Gavin Newsom this week announced the West Coast is following the lead of Northeast states and developing its own roadmap to reopen the region. California, which the governor has called a “nation state,” will join with Oregon and Washington to create the Western States Pact.

The western alliance and the governor’s independent view of California counters President Trump’s recent false claim of total authority. Trump walked back his statement and now says he’ll “authorize” individual governors’ plans for reopening. 

California’s bold, innovative spirit has deep roots, says William Deverell, a history professor at USC, and director of the school’s Institute on California and the West. He says that California has pushed ahead of the curve of history.