California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Wednesday warned that President Donald Trump was determined to stay in office and claimed the country was on the brink of authoritarianism.
“This is serious,” the Democratic governor said. “This guy doesn’t believe in free and fair elections. He tried to wreck this country. He tried to light democracy on fire… Now he’s doing it in plain sight.”
Newsom, who made the comments at Politico’s “The California Agenda: Sacramento Summit” conference, added, “Who spends $200 million on a ballroom at their home and then leaves?”
The White House announced last month that construction on a massive $200 million ballroom would start in September and be ready before Trump’s second term ends in 2029. The project is the first structural change to the Executive Mansion since the addition of the Truman balcony in 1948. Trump has already redecorated the Oval Office, adding golden touches and presidential portraits.
Newsom, who has publicly feuded with Trump and called out the administration repeatedly for overstepping its authority, implored the crowd to “wake up” to the dangers posed by the president and those closest to him. He accused Trump of weaponizing Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and Border Patrol agents to act in his own interest instead of for the good of the public.
“When they’re done with this — all that funding and that ‘big beautiful betrayal’ allows more resources for this private police force that increasingly is showing a tendency not to swear an oath to the Constitution, but to the president of the United States,” Newsom said.
Trump said this month that he would “probably not” run for a third term, but Newsom said he has been sent at least two dozen “Trump 2028” hats by the president’s allies. The governor also referenced a 90-minute meeting he had in February in the Oval Office when Trump pointed to a painting of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, which Newsom claimed was a not-so-subtle nod that Trump wasn’t planning on going anywhere.
Roosevelt was the only U.S. president to serve more than two terms. His time in office led to the 22nd Amendment, limiting presidents to two terms.
There is no love lost between Newsom and Trump, and the fight between the two leaders seems to grow more intense by the day.
Newsom has recently made headlines for spearheading a scheme to redraw California’s congressional maps in an effort to net Democrats five U.S. House seats in the 2026 midterm election. The push is in direct response to Trump telling Texas and other red states to redraw their maps to give Republicans an advantage.
NEWSOM SIGNS REDISTRICTING BILLS, TAKES FIGHT OVER CONGRESSIONAL MAP TO VOTERS
At stake is control of the House of Representatives. Republicans have a seven-seat majority in the House, with four vacancies. Trump has been able to enact his agenda because the GOP controls the White House and both chambers of Congress. If Democrats flip the House, they could render Trump ineffective during his final years in office.
“We’re losing this country in real time,” Newsom, widely considered a 2028 Democratic presidential front-runner, said. “It’s not bloviation, not exaggeration. It’s happening.”
