How can Gavin Newsom defend his anti-American, traitorous outburst against the President of his own country yesterday in Davos, Switzerland? He can’t. It is indefensible. His only defense is that the Trump Deranged and his Machiavellian party will let him get away with it.
Newsom decided it was a good move—meaning beneficial to him politically, never mind his nation—to urge European leaders to oppose the President of the United States. Got that? An American state governor and an aspiring President himself called global leaders “pathetic” for failing to oppose his own nation’s elected leader.
“I can’t take this complicity of people rolling over. I should have brought a bunch of knee pads for all the world leaders. I mean handing out crowns, the Nobel prizes that are being given away. It’s just pathetic. And I hope people understand how pathetic they look on the world stage,” Newsom said, speaking to reporters. “Trump is a T-Rex. You mate with him or he devours you, one or the other, and you need to stand up to it,” he continued, calling on Europeans to “stay tall and united.”
Against his nation.
If there is any example in history of a prominent American office-holder going abroad and attacking the President of the United States that way, I haven’t found it. If this empty-suit demagogue wants to attack Trump here as part of his cynical (and futile) run for the White House, fine: it’s right down the middle of American political tradition. What Newsom did yesterday, however, is beyond all reason or forgiveness. It should disqualify him permanently, not just from the Presidency, but from elected office. Let him run for office in Europe, since that’s where his loyalties are.
I’ll stipulate that the President’s obsession with Greenland and his manner of seeking control over that strategically-located frozen wasteland is even more reckless than his usual bully-in-a-china-shop methods. Never mind: the issue is whether the United States will be better off if it in fact did control Greenland. The answer is almost certainly yes. So if Denmark and the rest of NATO just said, “Oh fine, if you want it so badly, here. It’s yours for Minneapolis, a box of Borax and a Gino Cimoli baseball card!” would Americans benefit? Why surely.
Why then, is an American citizen—and not just any citizen but the governor of one of the most important states in the Union, trying to encourage Europe to refuse?
That’s easy. It’s because Newsom is a principle-free asshole, but mostly because he’s sure he can get away with it. It’s the same reason Bill Clinton gave for playing Bite the Bologna with an intern: because he could.
Given that he is a big head of hair with minimal brains underneath, Newsom also was incoherent as usual, though I’m not sure whether that made his comments better or worse. His first argument for why European leaders should oppose his President is the crown Trump was given by South Korean President Lee Jae-myung in October? South Korea isn’t even in Europe. It was a gold-plated replica based on ancient Silla Kingdom crowns presented as a gesture of alliance and diplomacy during the APEC 2025 summit. (That’s your cue, Marlon…)
And again with the Nobel Peace Prize! That wasn’t a gift from a world leader, but from a grateful Peace Prize winner. The one who sounds “pathetic” is Newsom. Then he gets even sillier. It’s praying mantises that eat their mates, not dinosaurs. I follow paleontology rather closely: no fossil discoveries support the idea that the T-Rex was a prehistoric rapist that demanded “Mate with me or I eat you!’ Newsom is just babbling, but because it’s anti-Trump babble, he’ll get praise for it.
Ethics Alarms 
And, of course, if Trump had used the T-Rex analogy, the Democrats and their allies in the news media, et al, would be all over it for days. Headlines would scream how the POTUS is making us all scientifically dumber than we already are.
Nor does the governor seem to recognize that he is setting a terrible precedent for the treatment of future Presidents. Should he somehow achieve the grand prize himself, I’m sure he would not appreciate a Republican governor encouraging the leaders of Europe to oppose him.
I didn’t even recognize the particular stupidity of the failed T-Rex analogy. I got stuck trying to figure out which Newsom was trying to do, since he only gave two options. Was Newsom trying to ‘mate’ with Trump, or be ‘eaten’ by Trump. Those were the only options!
That his sputtering nonsense probably was referring to a praying mantis (not dinosaur) got lost along the way.
What is the opposite of being ‘Red Pilled’?
Talk of just giving Trump the Greenland sounds uncomfortably close to just giving Hitler the Sudatenland. I am intellectually honest enough to know its not truly comparable. But I’d there a valid comparison? Or am I being worn down by constant Trump derangement.
If nothing else, if I’m seeing this parallel, surely others on both sides of the issue do as well. I feel like it is close enough to valid, and that this makes the particular merits of transfering Greenland too muddy. Trump’s bluster, worse than usual, makes transfering sovereignty DoA. If impossible, then unethical to keep talking about it. (Not that ethics stops Trump).
From a tiny bit of research, some worthy outcomes have been achieved, such as more closely integrating Greenland into NORAD, and transfering US operations in Greenland to a North American command (rather than a European command). The military is also much more competent than Trump, thanking the close cooperation with the Kingdom of Denmark in making this possible. Trump could have shut up and said his objectives were met, but running his mouth could too easily undo what little positive outcomes he did.
https://www.safia.hq.af.mil/IA-News/Article/4348295/norad-coordinates-dynamic-operational-exercise-with-danish-forces-in-greenland/#:~:text=The%20exercise%20involved:%20*%20**Personnel%20and%20aircraft,operations**%20*%20**Meticulous%20planning%20and%20seamless%20execution**
Why are they so willing to cross lines?
Just like how those senators and representatives crossed lines by criticizing the administration in a message directly to the troops?
A very close example would be Vice President Thomas Jefferson pulling a very similar stunt with (I believe) the French Ambassador against President John Adams. I was just reading about that in Joe Ellis’ book “First Family”, which details the lives and correspondence of John and Abigail Adams.
I consider Jefferson’s actions to be borderline treasonous. Newsom’s would be right up there as well.
After some reflection, I need to correct this statement…
“Joe Ellis considered Jefferson’s actions to be borderline treasonous. I agree with Ellis.”
Boy, my memory lapses in 18th Century US politics are biting me today. Of course Jefferson is a precedent for Newsom’s perfidy.
Yes. I knew it. Newsom is a long time van of Jefferson and actually did something based on precedent set by a formative and founding US political figure. My admiration for him has now doubled.
I’m starting to edge on this a little. While I take the general point: Trump has been bitch-eating-crackers to these people for a very long time, and I have the impression that Newsom would act similarly regardless of what specifically Trump was talking about. And Americans generally, but American representatives specifically, ought to defer to the home team.
But Trump’s been erratic lately, and when he’s off, his policies are becoming less defensible. America isn’t a Dictatorship. Trump is not a dictator. While generally, there should be deference to the home team, there also have to be limits to that deference.
In this case: America trades approximately 1.5 trillion dollars with Europe. Trump has signaled a 25% import tariff on all European goods if Denmark doesn’t give up Greenland. A 25% tariff on that trade means that American importers will pay 375 billion dollars to do the same volume in trade. This is during an affordability crisis. And this is being done to third party countries in order to leverage the annexation of a part of a sovereign nation who does not want to give up their Island, and the people living on it do not want to become American.
Just as a thought experiment; What would it take for the balance to shift?
I just keep hoping this Greenland thing is Trump’s way of getting us out of NATO. He wants us out of NATO, I think we would be better off out of NATO, but there is no way Congress will go for it. A few more unhinged letters, and we can get kicked out of NATO.
I don’t think that is it, but I can always dream.
Perhaps we could get some help from Putin. He wants us out as well, which would be a major step in his pursuit of the dissolution of NATO. So what if Putin rules Europe?
If Trump wants control over Greenland, then he needs to negotiate a deal that is mutually beneficial to all the stakeholders, most importantly Denmark. Why would Denmark allow itself to be bullied out of it sovereignty over Greenland? As the author of “The Art of the Deal” Trump ought to understand that you better catch flies with honey than vinegar.
There are other alternatives that can be pursued than outright ownership, e.g. a lease contract, mining concessions, and military bases.
The entire NATO agrees that Greenland has strategic value, and that it is important to limit influence of common strategic adversaries such as Russia and China in that area.
The European members of NATO are strategic partners despite their difference in views on certain matters such as trade and free speech; so it behooves President Trump not to permanently damage relationships with these countries to satisfy his interests in Greenland; China will be the main benefactory of such an outcome.
About Gavin Newsom’s interference, there is a Logan act that prohibits unauthorized citizens from negotiating with foreign governments to influence U.S. policy, and undermining official diplomacy. Newson is not prioritizing USA interests here, which disqualifies him for high office. Can the Democrat Party still claim that they are patriots who love the USA, or do they prioritize their own political interests more?