Gavin Newsom tried out a Trump impersonation of his own Tuesday – albeit on social media, with several X posts modeled after the president’s all-caps Truth tirades.
Newsom’s press office clicked Caps Lock to threaten Trump with legal action if he continued to pursue redistricting states in order to gain more of a Republican foothold. The post included the exclamation points and promises of further action that have become commonplace in the president’s own social media posts.
“DONALD TRUMP, THE LOWEST POLLING PRESIDENT IN RECENT HISTORY, THIS IS YOUR SECOND-TO-LAST WARNING!!! (THE NEXT ONE IS THE LAST ONE!),” Newsom’s press office posted on X. “STAND DOWN NOW OR CALIFORNIA WILL COUNTER-STRIKE (LEGALLY!) TO DESTROY YOUR ILLEGAL CROOKED MAPS IN RED STATES.”
It continued: “PRESS CONFERENCE COMING — HOSTED BY AMERICA’S FAVORITE GOVERNOR, GAVIN NEWSOM. FINAL WARNING NEXT. YOU WON’T LIKE IT!!! THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER.”
In another tweet, Newsom referred to the president as “Donald ‘Taco’ Trump” a reference to the acronym “Trump Always Chickens Out” that gained prominence in earlier this year as Trump wavered on tariff promises. The post continued promising California will draw “MORE “BEAUTIFUL MAPS” to offset the Texas redistricting.
DONALD “TACO” TRUMP, AS MANY CALL HIM, “MISSED” THE DEADLINE!!! CALIFORNIA WILL NOW DRAW NEW, MORE “BEAUTIFUL MAPS,” THEY WILL BE HISTORIC AS THEY WILL END THE TRUMP PRESIDENCY (DEMS TAKE BACK THE HOUSE!). BIG PRESS CONFERENCE THIS WEEK WITH POWERFUL DEMS AND GAVIN NEWSOM — YOUR…
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) August 12, 2025
Everything from the all caps format, to referring to himself as the “favorite” president and even ending with the more recent addition of “thank you for your attention to this matter” was pure Trump. It’s unclear if Newsom actually has a press conference planned to discuss the redistricting further – or it’s yet another troll from governor who has continually called the president out for “chickening out” on plans or moving back deadlines.
The president and California governor have been sniping at each other on social media particularly hard since Trump activated the National Guard to assist with ICE’s deportation efforts – and to quell the protesting they sparked – back in June. Newsom said on “The Shawn Ryan Show” in July that the activation on the president’s part was unwarranted and did reputational damage to the troops who had been celebrated since helping out with the January wildfires.
“Those guys were out there at every single intersection during the fires. These guys were exhausted and now they’re being told to mask up … I told you they’re getting selfies out there where they’re beloved in Santa Monica,” Newsom explained. “Now, that reputational damage that’s being done as they’re sitting on horses with American flags running through soccer fields scaring kids that are playing soccer in the middle of the day at a summer camp for what? Just toughness. That’s weakness masquerading as strength. That’s what I don’t like about this son of a bitch.”
