Newsom, Trump Clash at Davos After Governor Claims White House Blocked His Appearance

Simmering tensions between the Trump administration and California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, have erupted at the World Economic Forum at Davos after the Democratic leader accused the White House of orchestrating the last-minute cancellation of his scheduled appearance on Wednesday.Mr. Newsom, widely considered a Democratic frontrunner for the 2028 presidential race, was set to participate in a “fireside chat” with Fortune at the American headquarters at Davos, USA House. Shortly before he was scheduled to speak, an organizer informed Mr. Newsom’s office that they had decided against including any American officials on the panel, which was focused on business leaders and chief executives.Mr. Newsom’s press office accused the Trump administration of being behind the change, claiming that USA House, “under pressure from the White House and State Department,” had denied the California governor entry to the event. “How weak and pathetic do you have to be to be this scared of a fireside chat?” Mr. Newsom posted on X.Event organizers, in a series of text messages with a Newsom official obtained by Politico, denied bowing to pressure from the administration or “un-inviting” Mr. Newsom. They emphasized that the governor remained welcome to enter the venue.Fortune, the official media partner of USA House, stated that “USA House determined it would not be able to accommodate the governor’s participation and communicated that decision to Fortune.”The White House dismissed Mr. Newsom’s allegations, saying, “No one in Davos knows who third-rate governor Newscum is or why he is frolicking around Switzerland instead of fixing the many problems he created in California.”Mr. Newsom had reportedly planned to use the event to criticize Mr. Trump’s geopolitical posturing, positioning California as a superior partner to America’s European allies.The California governor was able to air that message on Thursday at Davos during a conversation with the editor in chief of Semafor. The dispute comes as Mr. Newsom spent the forum’s opening days trading barbs with Mr. Trump and criticizing European leaders who, he claimed, were failing to stand up to the American president amid his efforts to acquire Greenland. While speaking with reporters ahead of Mr. Trump’s Wednesday address, Mr. Newsom accused forum attendees of “rolling over” for the president, adding, “I should have brought a bunch of kneepads for all the world leaders.”Following Mr. Trump’s speech, Mr. Newsom derided the president’s remarks as “remarkably boring” and “remarkably insignificant,” he told CNN. Earlier in the day, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent attended a press briefing hosted by USA House, where he described Mr. Newsom as “Patrick Bateman meets Sparkle Beach Ken” and mused that he is “the only Californian who knows less about economics than Kamala Harris.” Mr. Bessent later stated that the governor was “too smug, too self-absorbed, and too economically illiterate to know anything.”

Newsom, Trump Clash at Davos After Governor Claims White House Blocked His Appearance

Newsom, Trump Clash at Davos After Governor Claims White House Blocked His Appearance

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