Gavin Newsom didn’t just roll out $11 insulin; he rolled a grenade into the national conversation about Donald Trump’s fitness. During a press conference touting California’s new CalRx insulin plan, the Democratic governor pivoted hard when asked about Attorney General Rob Bonta’s promised court fight over Trump’s plan to deploy National Guard troops to San Francisco.
Newsom unloaded, saying the president no longer bothers with a legal “pretext,” calling the move “grossly illegal” and “immoral,” and then questioning Trump’s cognitive and physical health. The timing was no accident, the insulin splash was real policy, and the National Guard threat was real politics.
On substance, California’s announcement was eye-popping. Beginning in early 2026, state-branded insulin pens will be available for just $11 each, a first-in-the-nation gambit Newsom says will drive down costs and pressure Big Pharma. That backdrop gave the governor a big platform, and he used it to torch Trump’s latest law-and-order flex.
Asked whether Bonta would sue if Trump federalizes troops for San Francisco, Newsom said the plan has no legal leg to stand on and no operational need, pointing out there’s no protest blocking federal work and no emergency justifying soldiers in city streets. He seethed that Trump treats cities as props, not communities, and called the gambit “delusional.” California officials have already been girding for this fight in court, arguing that federal law blocks presidents from using Guard units as domestic police absent rebellion or invasion.
Trump has become incredibly unhinged. He is totally divorced from reality and facts — he is mentally and physically in decline. pic.twitter.com/NcYGCUBKav
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) October 16, 2025
At a late-September gathering with military brass, Trump suggested using “dangerous cities as training grounds for our military,” rhetoric that stunned even some Pentagon veterans. The president has doubled down since, singling out San Francisco as a target while local leaders insist crime trends don’t support an occupation. For Newsom, that was the tell — when policy is made by applause line, not law.
Newsom rattled off a list of what he framed as obvious health markers, saying the 79-year-old president appears “unhinged,” “listless,” and “in decline cognitively,” and even hinted at physical decline. The governor has been escalating the personal shots in recent weeks, roasting Trump’s weight and stamina on social media as he wages his broader war with “Dozy Don.” Supporters cheer the pugilism; critics call it stigmatizing and beneath the office. Either way, the arrows are landing in the same bull’s-eye: Trump’s decision-making.
Legally, the ground under Trump’s deployment threats is growing shakier. A federal appeals panel this week rejected the administration’s claim that immigration protests in Chicago amounted to “rebellion,” upholding an order blocking a Guard deployment there and signaling that courts can review and curb these moves. California officials say they’re ready to file if San Francisco is next. That combination, judicial pushback and a governor eager to fight in both court and the court of public opinion, raises the stakes for the White House.
Will the blitz help Newsom politically? In California, probably; nationally, jury’s out. The insulin win gives him something tangible to point to, and the Guard showdown lets him play constitutional hardball. But attacks on Trump’s health can boomerang if they look like cheap shots. What Newsom is betting on is simple: when the president is musing about turning American cities into “training grounds,” voters will welcome a governor who says enough. And if he can slash insulin prices while throwing those punches, all the better.
