The political rivalry between California Governor Gavin Newsom and President Donald Trump has erupted into a full-blown digital brawl, captivating the nation’s attention and reshaping the tone of American political discourse. Over the past several weeks, Newsom’s aggressive social media strategy—marked by parody, all-caps taunts, and AI-generated images—has both amused Democratic supporters and infuriated MAGA loyalists, while also serving as a high-profile response to Republican-led redistricting efforts.
On August 20, 2025, Trump took to his Truth Social platform to issue a direct attack on Newsom, claiming, “Gavin Newscum is way down in the polls. He is viewed as the man who is destroying the once Great State of California. I will save California!!!” Despite Trump’s assertion, recent polling paints a different picture. According to a POLITICO-Citrin Center-Possibility Lab survey conducted between July 31 and August 11, Newsom remains a favored figure among California Democrats, outpacing even Vice President Kamala Harris in a hypothetical 2028 primary matchup. Another poll, released by SoCal Strategies, showed Newsom leading Vice President JD Vance 39 percent to 37 percent in a potential presidential contest, with a significant portion of voters still undecided. California, after all, has never swung for Trump in a presidential election.
Newsom, never one to shy away from a fight, fired back almost instantly on X (formerly Twitter) with a single word: “Triggered?” The brevity of the response belied a months-long campaign of online trolling and pointed political theater. Newsom’s approach has been to mirror and mock Trump’s signature social media style—frequently posting in all caps, sharing exaggerated AI-generated images, and even signing off with bombastic flourishes reminiscent of the former president’s own posts. On August 17, Newsom lampooned Trump for a typo on Truth Social, posting, “DONALD (TINY HANDS), HAS WRITTEN HIS AUTOBIOGRAPHY THIS MORNING — UNFORTUNATELY (LOW IQ) HE SPELLED IT WRONG — 'BETA.' SOON YOU WILL BE A 'FIRED' BETA BECAUSE OF MY PERFECT, 'BEAUTIFUL MAPS.' THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER! — GCN.”
The feud intensified as both politicians leveraged the contentious issue of redistricting. In Texas, Republican lawmakers—at Trump’s urging—moved to redraw congressional maps to create five new GOP districts. Newsom responded in kind, threatening to lead an effort to redraw California’s own maps to add up to five new Democratic seats, a move that would offset what he described as “rigging of maps” in red states. On August 11, Newsom declared, “DONALD TRUMP, IF YOU DO NOT STAND DOWN, WE WILL BE FORCED TO LEAD AN EFFORT TO REDRAW THE MAPS IN CA TO OFFSET THE RIGGING OF MAPS IN RED STATES. BUT IF THE OTHER STATES CALL OFF THEIR REDISTRICTING EFFORTS, WE WILL DO THE SAME. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER!”
Newsom’s strategy has not been without controversy. On August 20, in a press call with reporters, he escalated his rhetoric, saying, “It’s not about whether we play hardball anymore — it’s about how we play hardball. We are going to fight back and we’re going to punch this bully in the mouth.” He characterized the current political climate as teetering “on the brink of authoritarianism,” adding, “Nothing about this is normal, and it needs to be called out.” The California legislature was set to vote on the proposed redistricting on August 21, though any changes would ultimately require voter approval.
Not everyone is thrilled with Newsom’s tactics. Conservative commentators and MAGA supporters have been quick to criticize what they see as childish antics. Fox News host Dana Perino went so far as to say, “You have to stop it with the Twitter thing. I don’t know where his wife is. If I were his wife, I would say, ‘You are making a fool of yourself, stop it!’” Tomi Lahren, another conservative pundit, mocked Newsom’s team as “beta males who sit down to pee,” insisting that their online trolling only makes Newsom look foolish. Trump’s own communications team has dismissed the governor’s posts as “very weird and not very funny at all.”
Yet, Newsom has found defenders among Democratic strategists and party leadership. Doug Gordon, a Democratic strategist, told Newsweek, “His aggressive social media speaks to and energizes a small group of people who spend a lot of time online. But social media is not real life, and most voters will never see it. What Democratic primary voters really want are leaders who can effectively push back against the authoritarian moves we are seeing from the Trump Administration.” Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin praised Newsom’s approach as a “game changer,” saying, “Governor Newsom didn’t care whether folks would clutch their pearls when he decided to fight fire with fire and level the playing field against this craven, power hungry White House. His fight is a game changer, a national moment for Democrats to show up for all voters.”
For Newsom, the stakes are as much about personal ambition as they are about party strategy. With his national profile on the rise, many see his social media blitz as a not-so-subtle prelude to a 2028 presidential run. An August poll from Echelon Insights showed Newsom’s support for the Democratic nomination climbing from 4% in April to 13%—still trailing Kamala Harris, but a notable jump. As USA TODAY columnist Sara Pequeño observed, “Newsom really, really wants a shot at becoming the Democrats’ presidential nominee in 2028. His posting may be a shot at Trump, but it’s also a way for him to become a household name ahead of the primaries.”
The online battle has made Newsom an inescapable figure in Democratic circles, with viral memes, TikTok fan edits, and endless debate over his tactics. His willingness to “stoop to Trump’s level,” as some critics put it, has sparked both admiration and discomfort among progressives. “If you have issues with what I’m putting out, you sure as hell should have concerns with what he’s putting out as president,” Newsom said on August 14, underscoring his view that his methods are simply a reflection of the new political reality.
Meanwhile, the broader implications of the redistricting arms race are not lost on observers. Critics warn that tit-for-tat map drawing could further erode trust in the electoral process and deepen partisan divides. Still, for many Democrats, Newsom’s willingness to “fight fire with fire” offers a sense of relief after years of what they see as Republican rule-bending and Democratic restraint.
As the dust settles on this latest round of digital sparring, one thing is clear: the Newsom-Trump feud has become a defining feature of the 2025 political landscape, signaling a new era in which social media theatrics and hardball tactics are the norm, not the exception.
