After Governor Gavin Newsom made some remarks disparaging to Trump at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland Wednesday, he was promptly shut out of the US pavilion, and an on-stage event he was supposed to participate in was canceled.
Newsom has been having fun on social media while attending the WEF's annual meeting in Davos, and doing his Trumpian best to antagonize the president.
At 4:09 local time in Davos on Wednesday, Newsom tweeted a doctored image of a sleeping Trump at the podium saying, "Dozy Don conquers Davos!"
Dozy Don conquers Davos! pic.twitter.com/vZZAmCEc7K
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) January 21, 2026
At around 4:30 pm local time, Newsom was responding to questions from CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins about a speech President Donald Trump had just made in which he repeatedly seemed to confuse Greenland with Iceland, and was otherwise doing his level best to make America look ridiculous, per usual.
"Did it stand out to you that he said Iceland multiple times when he was talking about Greenland?" Collins asked.
Newsom replied, "And that every time a windmill turns it costs $1,000. A lot of stuff stands out. None of this is normal. There's a deviancy of consciousness... He's graded off the curve. I mean, it's... really some jaw-dropping and remarkable statements... For a European audience that might have been a new speech, but there wasn't anything new about that speech for the American audience."
Newsom proceeded to retweet video of that interview at 4:42 local time.
COLLINS: Did it stand out to you that he said Iceland multiple times when he was talking about Greenland?
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 21, 2026
NEWSOM: And that every time a windmill turns it costs $1,000. A lot of stuff stands out. None of this is normal. There's a deviancy of consciousness. He's graded off the… pic.twitter.com/eIJmDWiKTn
At 5:39 pm local time, Newsom tweeted a bulleted list about "Trump's America," saying that it features "Weakest job growth outside a recession since 2003," "Rising unemployment," and more.
Is it any wonder, then, that a half hour later, around 6 pm local time, Newsom and his team were denied entry to the American pavilion where Newsom was scheduled to take part in a fireside chat, moderated by Fortune magazine, a couple of hours later, and that event was also canceled?
"How weak and pathetic do you have to be to be this scared of a fireside chat?" Newsom said in a tweet.
BREAKING: Under pressure from the White House and State Department, USA House (a church acting as the official US pavilion) is now denying entry to @CAGovernor Gavin Newsom to speak with media after Fortune — the official media partner — invited him to speak.
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) January 21, 2026
As the New York Times reports, the White House has not directly taken responsibility for canceling the chat with Newsom, who was scheduled to appear on stage with an editor from Fortune. But White House spokesperson Anna Kelly sounded like she was parroting the president in a statement, 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."
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent backed that up in a speech earlier on Wednesday, reportedly calling Newsom "smug," "self-absorbed" and "economically illiterate," and questioning why Newsom had been asked to speak at all.
Alyson Shontell, the editor in chief of Fortune, said the publication had no role in the cancelation of the event, but declined to give further comment.
It should be noted that Newsom began his latest anti-Trump onslaught on Tuesday as he arrived in Switzerland, speaking to reporters saying, "I can't take this complicity, all the rolling over. I should have brought a bunch of kneepads for all the world leaders."
Newsom then followed up, tweeting video of those comments and saying, "America’s allies and business leaders need to understand this: There’s no diplomacy with Donald Trump. Get off your knees and grow a spine."
Izzy Gardon, a spokesperson for Newsom, noted that California's economy is the fourth largest in the world, larger than most entire nations, and suggested that the cancelation of Wednesday;s fireside chat had come via "pressure from the top."
Newsom, of course, continues to want to seek attention for himself as he prepares an all-but-certain bid for the presidency in 2028, and Davos certainly provides a clear opportunity to appear in contrast to Trump as a representative from the US.
Newsom is still scheduled to participate in a Thursday morning event that is part of the World Economic Forum official program, in which he'll be talking on stage with Ben Smith, the editor-in-chief and co-founder of the news outlet Semafor.
Top image: California Governor Gavin Newsom (C) listens to US President Donald Trump address the World Economic Forum (WEF) in the Davos Congress Center on January 21, 2026 in Davos, Switzerland. The annual meeting of political and business leaders comes amid rising tensions between the United States and Europe over a range of issues, including Trump's vow to acquire Greenland, a semi-autonomous Danish territory. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
