Newsom: Trump needs to be ‘needed,’ ‘loved’

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Monday gave tongue-in-cheek praise to President Trump, swiping at what he said was the commander in chief’s need to be “needed” and “loved.”

Newsom told Politico’s Jonathan Martin on his podcast, “On the Road with Jonathan Martin” that Trump wants to win people over in person. The governor said this as he reflected on when he and the president traded barbs at the World Economic Summit in Davos, Switzerland in January.

“It was a fascinating conversation where he’s just saying, ‘You know, we used to get along great. What the hell happened? We’re going to be great,’ you know,” Newsom said with a laugh before imitating Trump.

He later added that it was a trait he admired “on some level. I mean there’s a human quality to that. He needs to be needed. He needs to be loved.”

“But then you get into some clinical components of that as well,” the governor continued. “I don’t wake up everyday to try to find a crowbar to put in the spokes of his wheel. I don’t. That said, I’m going to stand my ground. We’re going to have the backs of our diverse communities and we’re going to fight back and, yeah, fight fire with fire.”

Newsom slammed the Democratic Party for “constantly trying to be right” while Republicans are “ruthless.” He argued that if Democrats are not ruthless in the 2026 midterm elections and win back the House, “we may not have a fair and free election in 2028, and I really believe that.”

Martin raised comments made by Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) about the U.S. not needing a “Democratic version of Donald Trump,” which Martin said might have alluded to Newsom. Newsom said he respected Moore but pushed back on the remark, saying “we’ll lose this country if we are not aggressive in reminding the stakes.”

Newsom, seen as a likely 2028 Democratic presidential contender, has been an outspoken critic of Trump’s since the president’s first term. His press office has taken to adopting Trump’s style on social media to regularly mock him while also criticizing him.

The Politico interview comes after Trump said Newsom should not be president because of his dyslexia, calling the Golden State’s governor a “low-IQ person.”

“Honestly, I’m all for people with learning disabilities, but not for my president,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office earlier this month. “I don’t want — I think a president should not have learning disabilities, OK?”

Newsom clapped back on the social platform X and called dyslexia a strength and not a weakness.

“To every kid with a learning disability: don’t let anyone — not even the President of the United States — bully you,” the governor wrote.

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