California Governor Newsom says White House blocked his Davos event

California Governor Gavin Newsom said he was blocked from speaking at a World Economic Forum event in Davos and blamed the Trump administration.

Newsom’s office told

The Democratic governor, whose state has the world’s fourth-largest economy, wrote on

The White House criticized the governor for attending the summit of world leaders and said he should instead focus on his state.

“No one in Davos knows who third-rate Governor Newscum is or why he is having fun in Switzerland instead of fixing the many problems he has created in California,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in a statement to the BBC.

Kelly did not say why Newsom was denied entry or whether the administration had anything to do with the cancellation of his conference.

Newsom is a vocal critic of the Trump administration and is considering a 2028 presidential bid.

His office told X that USA House denied his entry “under pressure from the White House and the State Department.”

“Do you have to be weak and pathetic to be so afraid of a fireside chat? Newsom wrote about

The governor’s office told the BBC that Newsom was invited to speak at the event earlier this month and that Fortune promoted the event.

Shortly before the event began, a USA House official informed them that they were canceling the Fortune event and that the governor would not be allowed to speak with the media at the pavilion, the governor’s office said.

The governor’s office said another “elected official” speaking did not “fit his agenda for the afternoon.”

Several Trump administration officials spoke at the venue, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who mocked Newsom during his remarks. Bessent suggested in his remarks that California’s governor should focus on issues such as homelessness, wildfires and state budgets – instead of attending a global forum.

The governor’s office said USA House proposed, as an alternative, that Newsom speak at a nightcap.

The second-term governor was also among the crowd Wednesday when Trump delivered a wide-ranging speech to world leaders in which he demanded that Denmark cede control of Greenland.

In his speech, Trump attacked a number of world leaders. He also called Newsom by name, saying they got along well and that the governor was a “good guy.”

“I would say this: If I was a Democratic governor, or whatever, I would call Trump and say, ‘Come in. Make us look good,’” Trump said.

As Trump spoke, a camera showed Newsom smiling and appearing to laugh at points during the speech.

“Nothing was proposed there,” Newsom told reporters later. “It was rude at times, but even by Trump standards.

“So it was just remarkable in its inconsequential nature. I expected more from him. I definitely did.”