Kathrine Frich
The US Democrat says he was prevented from taking part in an event he had already agreed to attend.
The row has added to growing tensions between the White House and one of President Donald Trump’s most vocal critics.
Blocked appearance
California Governor Gavin Newsom said on Wednesday that he was barred from speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
According to Reuters, the Democratic governor accused the White House of intervening to block the appearance he had planned.
“California was just denied the US House. As far as we know, California is part of the US,” Newsom wrote in a post on X, referring to the official US headquarters in Davos.
“How weak and pathetic do you have to be to be so scared of a family discussion?” he added. Newsom has previously said he is considering a run for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028.
Pressure alleged
Newsom’s press office said the decision followed pressure from the Trump administration, though it did not provide evidence.
“Under pressure from the White House and the State Department, the USA House (a church that serves as the official pavilion of the United States, nr) is now denying California Governor Gavin Newsom access to speak to the media after Fortune – the official media partner (of the Davos Forum, nr) – invited him to speak,” the press office said in a statement on Wednesday.
The governor’s team said Fortune had invited Newsom to take part in an informal discussion earlier this month and that he had accepted.
Fortune confirmed the invitation. In an emailed statement to Reuters, the magazine said the USA House had decided it could not accept Newsom’s participation and had relayed that decision to Fortune.
Ongoing feud
Trump and Newsom have clashed repeatedly since the Republican president returned to the White House for a second term a year ago.
Their disputes have included Trump’s decision to deploy National Guard troops to California over the summer. Trump has frequently referred to the governor as “Newscum.”
“I know Gavin was here,” Trump said during his speech in Davos on Wednesday.
“I used to get along very well with Gavin,” he added.
Newsom was seen in the audience and later told reporters,
“It was extremely boring. It was extremely insignificant. He was not going to invade Greenland. It was never real” the threat to use force to take over Greenland.
Earlier, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also attacked Newsom, saying he “looks to me like a cross between Patrick Bateman and Sparkle Beach Ken.”
“He is too arrogant, too egotistical, and too ignorant about economics to know anything,” Bessent added.
Sources: Reuters, Hotnews.
