US President Donald Trump and California Governor Gavin Newsom, who have been part of a very long and very public feud, happened to be under the same roof at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and what happened there surprised everyone.
Trump was speaking in Davos about how he wants to help U.S. states reduce crime, and at one point he mentioned California and its governor:
“We’re going to help the people in California. We want to have no crime. I know Gavin was here. I used to get along so great with Gavin… pic.twitter.com/1uPn7Gb7tM
— Unbiased Alpha (@UnbAlpha) January 21, 2026
During his speech, Trump went on to acknowledge Newsom as “a good guy.” Trump even claimed that the two shared a cordial relation when he was President. Trump was presumably referring to his first Presidential term. Acknowledging Gavin, Trump said, “I know Gavin was here. I used to get along so great with Gavin when I was president. Gavin’s a good guy.”
Trump instantly took a U-turn from his stance and added, “We did help them a lot in Los Angeles, a lot … early in my term, when they had some problems. But we would love to do it. I will say this, if I were a Democrat governor, or whatever, I would call up Trump, I’d say, ‘Come on in, make us look good,’ because we’re cutting crime down to nothing.”
Gavin Newsom responded to Trump in his signature style – a meme, of course. No caption needed. Netizens were super quick to respond to Gavin Newsom’s meme. “Gavin, are you and Trump bros?” a user wrote on X. “When I was President? This guy thinks he’s still on the 2024 campaign trail,” another netizen wrote. A third user called Newsom a “troll expert.” Another one dropped a comment that read, “I enjoyed the ‘when I was president’ part, as if he isn’t the current President.”
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) January 21, 2026
Earlier in Davos, Newsom called Trump’s speech “boring.” He told the reporters stationed on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, “Well, that was boring. It was remarkably boring. It was remarkably insignificant.”
It would be an understatement to say that Newsom has been vocal about calling out Trump on multiple occasions. His Press Office handle on X regularly shares memes on social media, slamming Trump as well as his inner circle.
Just earlier this week, Newsom took a swipe at Trump and the many peace prizes that he won last year. Newsom shared an AI-generated picture of him handing an award to baby Trump. “In honor of lasting one full year in office, California Governor Gavin Newsom today awarded Donald Trump the California Peace Prize. Please join us in congratulating Daddy’s Little Helper,” is what Newsom captioned the X post.
Among other jibes, Newson has frequently shared memes about Trump’s health, instances of him dozing off at public events, his dance moves, and the Epstein Files connection, to name a few.
In an interview last year, Gavin Newsom was asked to reflect on his “tactic,” which is to imitate some of what we see online from President Trump. He was further asked if he runs the risk of normalizing his behavior.
“Quite the contrary. The whole expression was to not allow it to be normalized,” Newsom told the NBC reporter. During the interview, the California Governor expressed why Donald Trump is a frequent subject of his mockery.
“It was becoming normalized – the normalization of deviancy across the spectrum of issues, but his communication – he’s dressing up as the pope, as Superman. He’s putting his face on Mt. Rushmore. It’s madness. So, I put a mirror up to that madness,” Gavin Newsom was quoted as saying.
