Not even a full day after President Donald Trump left Davos bruised and irritated, he was already lashing out — not at world leaders, not at critics abroad, but at the man who had upstaged him on the global stage.
Trump returned to Washington on Wednesday, Jan. 21, following a rocky appearance at the World Economic Forum, where California Gov. Gavin Newsom had dominated headlines a full day earlier with a blistering broadside against European leaders for enabling Trump’s threats and authoritarian posture.
By the evening of Thursday, Jan. 22, the same night Trump was scheduled to mark his 21st wedding anniversary with Melania, something else was clearly gnawing at him.
That irritation spilled out on Truth Social in a rambling, grievance-soaked post aimed squarely at Newsom.
Trump accused the California governor of being a “‘Lame Duck’ Governor of a Failing State,” seething that Newsom “should not be at Davos running around screaming for the attention of Foreign Leaders, and embarrassing our Country.”
“He made a mockery of himself,” Trump insisted, adding that “everybody, including his staff, knows it!”
The tirade went on, cycling through familiar Trump obsessions: last year’s Los Angeles wildfires, California’s long-delayed high-speed rail project, and claims that residents are “leaving in droves.” Trump ordered Newsom to “finish out his term, and GO HOME!”
“He should finish his monstrously ‘overbudget and behind schedule’ railroad … Then finish out his term, and GO HOME!” Trump wrote, before adding that it was “unimaginable” Newsom could ever run for president — “but, who knows, it’s a very strange World!”
The irony wasn’t lost on observers. Nearly every charge Trump leveled at Newsom — the desperation for attention, the global embarrassment, the instability — read less like an indictment of the governor and more like a projection of Trump’s own Davos reception.
“The level of projection is astonishing,” one commenter wrote. Another added, “Everything you state about Newsom is you! You were laughed at on the world stage.”
One viewer surmised, The only one who made a mockery of himself was Trump. Now he’s the real embarrassment to this country. I think he knows it too, that’s why he’s scapegoating so that people won’t think he’s an imbecile.
If Trump’s goal was to reassert dominance, the effort backfired almost instantly.
Newsom responded not with a lengthy rebuttal, but with two words.
The California governor posted a four-second clip of himself smirking, paired with the caption: “rent free.” The footage captured a moment from one of Trump rant at Davos and Newsom’s reaction in real time. Now Trump was being forced to relive it.
The internet immediately understood the exchange.
“Trump is terrified of Newsom,” the MeidasTouch news outlet posted on Threads above Newsom’s post.
VoidScreamer responded with a hilarious meme of Newsom drinking an icy beverage from a bottle labeled “MAGA TEARS.”
X user Dr. Cole posted, “Only a deeply insecure, narcissistic loser would post this kind of bizarre, rambling, playground-insult screed (“Newscum”) about a successful governor minding his state’s business on the world stage. Translation: Trump is absolutely terrified of @GavinNewsom”
And Brown Eyed Susan posted a hysterical meme showing three presidential paintings. Former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden look very presidential, and then there’s Trump with crossed eyes and a goofy grimace.
Another simply noted, “Hilarious.”
Trump’s eruption didn’t come out of nowhere.
The president’s anger traces back to Davos itself, where Newsom arrived on Tuesday, Jan. 20 — a day before Trump — and delivered some of the forum’s most confrontational remarks. Speaking to reporters, Newsom accused European leaders of being “complicit” in enabling Trump’s behavior.
“People are rolling over,” Newsom said. “I should have brought a bunch of kneepads for all the world leaders. It’s just pathetic.”
Pressed on what Europe should do, Newsom didn’t soften his tone.
“They’ve been played,” he said. “This guy is playing folks for fools.”
Newsom likened Trump to a “T-rex,” warning that world leaders either “mate with him or he devours you.” He called Trump “a wrecking ball,” saying the situation was “code red” and that global leaders were still “playing by an old set of rules” with a president who had abandoned them.
The tension escalated the next day, when Newsom, invited by Fortune to speak at USA House, the official U.S. pavilion, was abruptly denied entry.
“Under pressure from the White House and State Department, USA House is now denying entry to Governor Newsom,” his office said on X.
By the time Trump boarded his flight home, the contrast was unmistakable: Newsom commanding attention abroad, Trump fuming about it afterward.
And when Trump finally unloaded — projecting strength, grievance, and humiliation all at once — Newsom barely needed to respond.
Two words were enough.
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