This time, it's gubernatorial: Gov. Ferguson on how Washington will face another Trump administration

Bob Ferguson became Washington's governor five days before Donald Trump began his second term as president of the United States this week. But Ferguson says that Washington has been prepared for Trump far longer than that.

"At some point early in his first term, I just reached a point of understanding that with him, you have to expect the unexpected," Ferguson said. "That's just the only way to operate with him, and to prepare as aggressively as you can for the unexpected and to put together a team that can challenge him in court and beat him. So, that's been my approach in the past, and that will certainly be my approach going forward."

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In his first interview with KUOW as Washington's governor, Ferguson said he didn't vote for Trump, though he wasn't shocked when he won, and that nothing Trump did on his first day as president surprised him. He said he has become "pretty accustomed to the way he operates" and that Washington has been preparing for the Trump administration for more than a year. That's partially why the state was so quickly able to file a lawsuit challenging one of Trump's executive orders a day after he signed it.

"We are as prepared as we can be. There is no state better prepared. There is no state with a better AG's office," Ferguson said. "There just is not, and I realize that doesn't change the fact that for a lot of people, having Donald Trump in the White House is a change they did not want."

As Washington state's attorney general from 2013 up through less than a week ago, Ferguson was known for suing presidential administrations, from Obama to Biden. He sued the Trump administration 99 times during Trump's first term. Now, as governor, Ferguson said he's already been talking with the new Attorney General's Office (now led by Nick Brown), particularly with the office's civil rights division.

Conflicts between Washington and the Trump administration are expected in the years ahead.

As governor, Ferguson's approach to Trump echoes his approach as an attorney general: If Trump's actions exceed his authority as president, and those actions harm Washingtonians, he'll push back. That means backing up the AG's office, such as helping coordinate with state agencies to help build cases.

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Ferguson also said his office can work with the state Legislature to adopt laws to better insulate Washington from the Trump administration. For example, he noted other states have passed laws barring out-of-state National Guards from coming in and enforcing a president's agenda. He'd like to see Washington do the same.

"That said, there'll be plenty of things he can do as president that will have a harm to Washingtonians, because they're lawful," Ferguson noted. "Elections do have consequences. Case by case, we've got to deal with those as they come up. So for me, it's sort of one day at a time, one step at a time, one issue at a time, and be really thoughtful and methodical about how we approach it."

While Ferguson is not surprised or shocked by Trump, he understands the anxiety many Washingtonians feel about the president. The state did not go for Trump in the 2024 election. But the governor says, for him, there isn't time to feel that right now. He prefers to "stay calm, be methodical."

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"In some ways, it doesn't feel all that different," Ferguson said. "It's just is so disappointing to be back here again ... and having to spend energy and resources on making sure the administration does not exceed its authority and harm Washingtonians. ... But honestly, there's just not a whole lot of time to feel those emotions, right? We've got work to do. This is reality. He won an election. He won the popular vote. Look, I'm just not spending a whole lot of time looking back. It's just time to deal with what's right in front of us, and I think that's how we do our best work."

Dyer Oxley contributed to this report.