Gavin Newsom’s return to Davos was always going to be loud. It just wasn’t clear how chaotic it would get.
Over the course of a few days in the Swiss Alps, the California governor criticized President Donald Trump, was denied entry to the USA House, waved red kneepads at corporate leaders, and traded insults with Trump’s Treasury secretary.
Newsom had framed his attendance at the World Economic Forum as a direct challenge to Trump on the global stage.
Last week, his office said he planned to rebut the president’s economic agenda, defend “democratic capitalism,” and position California as a counterweight to what he called Trump’s “crony capitalism.”
Trump spoke first, addressing business and political leaders on Wednesday morning. Newsom, watching from the room, criticized the speech shortly afterward.
Speaking to reporters, including Business Insider’s Ben Bergman, Newsom said the audience reaction was muted because Trump spoke down to people, adding that “had there not been cellphones, I think a few people would have passed out from boredom.”
Anna Kelly, a White House spokeswoman, later dismissed Newsom as a “third-rate governor” in comments to Business Insider, saying that it was unclear why he was “frolicking around Switzerland instead of fixing the many problems he created in California.”
Newsom barred from the US pavilion
Tensions escalated hours later on Wednesday when Newsom was denied entry to the USA House, the official US pavilion at Davos, where he was scheduled to talk in a fireside chat hosted by Fortune.
Newsom’s office said the invitation was rescinded at the last minute due to pressure from the White House and State Department.
Newsom blasted the move on X, calling it “weak and pathetic” to block a fireside chat. His office said that multiple Trump administration officials, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, had spoken at the pavilion earlier that day.
Bessent, for his part, didn’t hold back. He publicly called Newsom “economically illiterate,” “smug,” and “too self-absorbed,” escalating what had already become a personal feud playing out in front of the global business elite.
Newsom’s kneepads
Newsom got his biggest moment on Thursday during another scheduled Davos appearance.
In an onstage interview with Semafor’s Ben Smith, he said that the US was no longer governed by the rule of law but by what he called “the rule of Don,” accusing Congress, universities, law firms, and corporate leaders of bending the knee to the president.
To make the point, Newsom brought in bright red kneepads — a prop meant to symbolize corporate capitulation — drawing applause from the audience.
Denis Balibouse/Reuters
Trump, meanwhile, acknowledged Newsom in his own Davos remarks on Wednesday. “We’re going to help the people in California,” Trump said. “We want to have no crime. I know Gavin was here. I used to get along so great with Gavin when I was president. Gavin is a good guy.”
The governor declined a later invitation to return to the USA House for a private nightcap reception.
Political experts told Business Insider that Newsom’s return to Davos signals ambitions beyond California.
His decision to confront Trump in front of global business and political leaders has renewed speculation that he is laying the groundwork for a potential 2028 presidential bid.
