GOING WEST

Trump’s Favorite Paper Finds a New Home in California

The new paper will see if the New York Post’s tabloid sensibilities resonate with a California audience.

Donald Trump’s favorite newspaper, the New York Post, is launching a Los Angeles-based California Post newspaper with the hope that the West Coast will relish its tabloid expertise.

The California Post will feature its own team of reporters, editors, and photographers focused on incorporating the Rupert Murdoch-owned Post’s edgy editorial language into its focus on California, the Post and parent company News Corp. announced on Monday.

The new paper will launch in early 2026, and News Corp. veteran Nick Papps will serve as its editor in chief. Keith Poole, the New York Post‘s top editor, will manage Papps and oversee the California paper’s operations.

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“Los Angeles and California surely need a daily dose of The Post as an antidote to the jaundiced, jaded journalism that has sadly proliferated,” News Corp CEO Robert Thomson said in a statement. “I am also pleased that Keith Poole’s remit is expanding, as he will now be responsible for covering not just New York, but California, the U.S., the world and, perhaps, Mars.”

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The venture will come complete with a daily print edition, mobile and desktop sites, and audio and video. Los Angeles marks the second largest concentration of New York Post readers at 3.5 million visitors, the Post said.

The paper’s expansion comes as many California papers have faced some level of economic plight in recent years, while the Post said it has achieved three consecutive years of profitability.

The Los Angeles Times has seen repeated waves of layoffs and buyouts as owner Patrick Soon-Shiong has tried to find ways to “balance” the paper’s coverage. Soon-Shiong’s efforts have included an AI-powered “bias” meter for opinion coverage and conversations with right-wing podcaster Candace Owens for a Times-branded venture.

Other L.A. papers including LAist, LA Weekly, and Los Angeles magazine have also faced headwinds due to turnover or economic issues.

California’s relevance has also grown as its governor, Gavin Newsom, has become a top Democratic voice against President Donald Trump. Expanding the conservative-tinged Post, the president’s longtime favorite paper, to the state gives it a West Coast platform to cover Trump’s enemies.

“California is the most populous state in the country, and is the epicenter of entertainment, the AI revolution and advanced manufacturing—not to mention a sports powerhouse," Poole said in a statement. “Yet many stories are not being told, and many viewpoints are not being represented. With The California Post, we will bring a common-sense, issue-based approach to metropolitan journalism."

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Corbin BoliesMedia Reporter

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