Gavin Newsom clapped back at Donald Trump’s criticism of a new California energy deal with a gif of a top-rated podcaster who’s lately turned against the president.
“Trump learning in real time leaders can work with people other than him,” the California governor posted on X, accompanied by a popular animated meme of a shocked Joe Rogan commentating on a UFC match.
“That about sums it up,” Newsom added in a separate post about the deal. “Progress > Ego.”
It comes after Newsom, a frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028, signed an agreement with the United Kingdom for future coordination on clean energy initiatives, including offshore wind farms.
Trump has repeatedly railed against energy generated by wind turbines, claiming without evidence that “windmills,” as he calls them, cause health problems in local populations and cost more to run than they save.
The president was quick to attack the new deal, telling Politico on Monday that “the U.K.’s got enough trouble without getting involved with Gavin Newscum.”
“Gavin is a loser,” he raged on. “Everything he’s touched turns to garbage. His state has gone to hell, and his environmental work is a disaster.”
Trump, who further claimed it was “inappropriate” for Newsom to enter into arrangements with the U.K., and “inappropriate for them to be dealing with him,” has consistently denied the threats of climate change and withdrawn the U.S. from dozens of international environmental initiatives.
The California governor’s barb on X serves as a reminder to the president that many of the prominent right-wingers who helped him to victory in 2024 have deserted him in his second term.
Rogan, whose endorsement is thought to have helped swing young male voters to Trump in 2024, has lately blasted the president on everything from his administration’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case to its ongoing deportation drive and his attacks on political opponents.
“He’s a nut,” the top-rated podcaster said last year.
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment on this story.
