US President Donald Trump on Monday denounced a clean energy agreement between the United Kingdom and California hours after it was signed, calling Governor Gavin Newsom “a loser”.
In an interview with Politico, Trump said it was "inappropriate" for Britain to be dealing with the Democratic governor.
The Republican leader also branded Newsom "a loser," saying "his state has gone to hell, and his environmental work is a disaster.”
The energy agreement Newsom inked with British Energy Secretary Ed Miliband on Monday pledged cooperation on clean energy technologies such as offshore wind, and aims to expand access for British firms to California’s market.
Newsom is an outspoken Trump critic and has publicly mulled a 2028 run for the Democratic presidential nomination.
In January, Newsom was blocked from speaking inside the official US venue at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, a move he blamed on the White House.
California fires back
The Gavin Newsom administration fired right back at Donald Trump, saying that the US President is “selling out America’s future to China”.
"Donald Trump is on his knees for coal and Big Oil, selling out America’s future to China. Governor Newsom will continue to lead in his absence. Foreign leaders are rejecting Trump and choosing California’s vision for the future,” a Newsom spokesperson said in a statement to news agency Reuters.
{{/usCountry}}"Donald Trump is on his knees for coal and Big Oil, selling out America’s future to China. Governor Newsom will continue to lead in his absence. Foreign leaders are rejecting Trump and choosing California’s vision for the future,” a Newsom spokesperson said in a statement to news agency Reuters.
{{/usCountry}}Trump recently invited the oil and gas industry to nominate areas in Southern and Central California for a potential sale of offshore oil and gas leases as soon as next year, a move Newsom and environmental groups condemned as a threat to the state's ecosystems.
Gavin Newsom calls Donald Trump ‘temporary’
Gavin Newsom told a panel at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday that he travelled there to reassure European allies that “Donald Trump is temporary.”
“He’ll be measured in years, not decades,” Newsom said, predicting Trump would suffer heavy losses in the midterm elections and face legal setbacks, including limits on his tariff authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
The California governor called Donald Trump’s brand of politics does not represent enduring American values. He instead urged leaders to maintain stable subnational partnerships with US states like California during what he called a period of “instability” for America, and argued that Europe has grown more unified in response to the Trump-era uncertainty.
“Maybe that is the one contribution of Donald Trump,” he said.