Davos Event Shuts Out Newsom After He Criticizes Trump

After traveling to Switzerland for the World Economic Forum, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he was stopped at the American front door. The Democrat accused the Trump administration of keeping him out of an event at USA House, the official American pavilion at the event in Davos, shortly after he publicly panned President Trump's speech there on Wednesday. A Newsom team account claimed that, "under pressure from the White House and State Department," the venue reversed course and refused to let him in for a media session, CNN reports. Fortune, one of the event's sponsors, said that Newsom had been invited to take part in a discussion, per the Hill, but that USA House had decided it "would not be able to accommodate the governor's participation."

During his address, Trump singled out Newsom in the audience, calling him "a good guy" and reminiscing about when they "used to get along." Cameras showed Newsom smiling, per CNN, but the governor later said the speech was "remarkably boring" and offered nothing new for Americans. He dismissed Trump's renewed talk of taking over Greenland and said any suggestion of the US using force had never been realistic. The White House then released a statement saying "no one in Davos knows who third-rate governor Newscum is or why he is frolicking around Switzerland instead of fixing the many problems he created in California."

In the morning, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had criticized Newsom at USA House during a press briefing, per the Hill. And he suggested Newsom's criticism might have an effect on his scheduled appearance at USA House, per the New York Times. Newsom knocked global leaders, too, for what he described as deference to Trump in Davos, saying some of them looked "pathetic" on the world stage. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, also a Democrat, ripped Trump's address as well, telling CNN it was "dangerous," "disrespectful," and "unhinged." "You saw him make fun of world leaders in the room, who we call friends," Beshear said. "You saw him ramble on, in stories, and even try to do voices. This is really concerning and for the United States, frankly, embarrassing."