Newsom’s Trump Tactics: A Game of Audacious Ambition

Gavin Newsom has never been subtle. But his latest digital performance—mocking President Trump by mimicking his trademark posting style—tells us far more than it does on the surface. At first glance, it looks like a petty parody, a blue-state governor trying to get a rise on X with all-caps rants, goofy nicknames, and over-the-top bravado. But behind the theater is a deeper, more desperate game. Newsom isn’t just trolling. He’s auditioning.

Let’s be clear: Governor Newsom knows he won’t beat Trump head-to-head. He may be delusional, but he’s not stupid. By mimicking Trump’s voice, he’s not trying to win over Trump’s base—he’s trying to win over his party’s increasingly nervous donor class. With Biden out of the picture and the Democratic bench looking thinner by the week, Newsom wants to prove he can take on Trump with the same energy, volume, and sheer media presence. This isn’t about policy. It’s about profile.

The posts themselves are a masterclass in overcompensation. “TINY HANDS,” “LOW ENERGY,” “TOTAL BETA!”—Newsom’s press team isn’t just cribbing Trump’s style, they’re going full cosplay. The goal? To bait Trump into a response. If Trump engages, Newsom elevates. If Trump ignores him, Newsom still gets press. Either way, Newsom wins the attention economy, which is the only currency that matters in Democratic politics right now.

But the real tell came when Newsom started promoting his redistricting plan as a kind of moral crusade—“THE MOST INCREDIBLE MAPS IN THE HISTORY OF MAPPING,” as one post put it. Ignore the comedy for a moment and focus on the move itself. Newsom is openly gerrymandering California in the Democrats’ favor, justifying it as a response to Texas Republicans doing the same. This is raw power politics dressed up as virtue. And he’s using Trump as a distraction while he does it.

Remember, Trump supported redistricting efforts in red states to fix the damage left by Democrats’ lawyered-up census games. Newsom is now doing the same thing in reverse, but instead of explaining it to voters, he’s turning it into a meme war. Why? Because he knows the average voter doesn’t care about redistricting. But they do care about who wins the fight on social media. So Newsom gives them a show.

He even went as far as to suggest Trump might “give away” California to Putin—a joke, sure, but one that serves a purpose. It’s all part of the larger narrative he’s trying to build: Trump is old, weak, and compromised. Newsom, meanwhile, is young, energetic, and “America’s solution.” It’s not subtle. It’s branding. And it’s aimed directly at the Democratic primary electorate of 2028—or sooner if Biden’s health or legal woes open the door.

The Nobel Peace Prize bit is the same play. With Trump receiving nominations abroad, Newsom saw an opening to mock the process and elevate himself in the same breath. “PEACE THROUGH MAPS,” he called it. It’s ridiculous on its face, but again, that’s the point. It’s not meant to be taken seriously—it’s meant to be shared. The more absurd, the more viral. And the more viral, the more Newsom cements himself as the Democrats’ loudest, most camera-ready alternative to Trump.

Still, for all the noise, the signal is clear: Newsom is not playing to win in 2025. He’s playing to survive in a Democratic Party that has no clear leader and even fewer ideas. He’s betting that style will beat substance, that mockery will beat movement, and that enough donors will mistake volume for vision.

It’s a risky bet. But in a party driven by media moments and influencer politics, it just might work—at least long enough to get him on the debate stage. Whether it survives contact with Trump’s actual campaign machine is another story entirely. But Gavin Newsom isn’t thinking that far ahead. For now, he just wants to trend.