Gavin Newsom's Press Office Copying Trump refers to a series of posts from the official California Governor's Press Office account (@GovPressOffice) that deliberately aped President Trump's distinctive social media style. The posts used all-caps formatting, Trump's habit of signing off with initials, references to his repeated claims about deserving the Nobel Peace Prize, and phrases like "THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER"4. The account also posted AI-generated images recreating well-known Trump imagery, including parodies of the "King Trump" post and the Trump raised fist photo4.

The trolling campaign was tied to a real policy fight. Newsom was pushing California's "Election Rigging Response Act," a redistricting measure designed to counter a Trump-backed effort in Texas to redraw congressional maps in Republicans' favor1. But the over-the-top posting style turned what could have been dry policy news into viral political entertainment, drawing millions of views per post3.

The @GovPressOffice account became a focal point in the broader debate about whether Democrats could compete in what Newsweek called "the online attention wars"3. Strategist Mike Madrid argued Newsom was "disrupting that model, one meme at a time" and "showing Democrats they don't have to play defense on social media"3.

The New York Times ran a lengthy feature on Newsom's Trump parody merchandise, quoting academics on what it all meant2. The operation drew coverage across the political spectrum, from Newsweek and The Guardian to Naked Capitalism and Liberty Nation5.

The strategy also fed into a larger pattern of Democrats adopting more aggressive online tactics. Madrid noted that Democrats "from Arizona's Ruben Gallego, a centrist, to New York's Zohran Mamdani, a socialist, have thrived by taking their own aggressive stances"3. The Newsom account was the most visible example of this shift, turning a governor's press office into must-follow political entertainment.

Horse-race sports bettors at The Hill ranked Newsom number one in the Democratic primary as of September 20252.

The @GovPressOffice trolling operation didn't emerge from nowhere. It was part of a broader strategic shift by Newsom as he positioned himself for a likely 2028 presidential run. By mid-2025, Newsom had launched a podcast where he engaged with figures across the political spectrum, from Charlie Kirk to Tim Walz, and was actively courting the young male voters Democrats had been losing2.

The social media strategy drew from Trump's own playbook. Trump's White House social media team had been posting AI-edited images for months, including Trump as a lightsaber-wielding Jedi and Trump in papal robes captioned "Pope Trump"3. As former GOP strategist Alex Patton told Newsweek, "Trump doesn't just provoke — he floods the zone with images and slogans until his narrative becomes the only one in the room"3. Newsom's team decided to flood it right back.

The policy backdrop gave the trolling teeth. On August 14, Newsom unveiled the "Election Rigging Response Act" at the Japanese American National Museum's National Center for the Preservation of Democracy in Los Angeles, a venue chosen for its symbolism1. The measure would temporarily override California's independent redistricting commission to draw new congressional lines countering Texas's mid-cycle maps, which Trump had personally pushed for1. "Today is liberation day in the state of California," Newsom declared, borrowing Trump's own rhetoric1.

The press conference itself became a story when armed, masked federal border patrol agents, led by Gregory Bovino of the El Centro sector, circled the venue while Newsom was speaking1. Local news captured a man being led away in handcuffs. Newsom called the presence "sick and pathetic" and accused Trump of ordering it to intimidate Democrats1. LA Mayor Karen Bass, who was not attending the event, arrived to condemn what she called a non-coincidental operation1. DHS said the agents were just doing routine enforcement1.

The polling numbers told the story of why the strategy mattered. A June 2025 Emerson College survey showed Newsom at 7 percent in the 2028 Democratic primary, up from 3 percent in March3. A mid-July Echelon Insights poll placed him at 10 to 11 percent, just behind Kamala Harris and Pete Buttigieg3. A UC Irvine poll showed his California approval rebounding as Trump's declined3. Some of that growth came at the expense of former Vice President Harris, but most appeared to come from previously undecided voters2.

Republican strategist Carter Wrenn acknowledged the impact: "Newsom, by standing up to Trump on redistricting, has landed himself in the spotlight in the Democrat presidential primary"3. Democratic strategist Mike Madrid was more emphatic: "Democrats are looking for a fighter. It's not about ideology anymore. You can be centrist or progressive — what matters is that you stand up and hit back. The more aggressive Newsom gets, the more support he builds"3.

Beyond social media posts, Newsom launched a merchandise line through his Campaign for Democracy PAC. Items came in Trump's signature red and bore slogans like "Newsom was right about everything" and declarations in all-caps that "Many people are saying this is the greatest merchandise ever made"2. One item, a signed $100 Bible parodying Trump's "God Bless the USA" Bibles from the prior year, allegedly sold out, though the PAC declined to say how many it actually sold2. Newsom floated possibly adding "a Trump corruption coin" to the merchandise lineup2.

The reaction split along predictable lines. Fox News host Dana Perino dismissed it: "We get the joke. It's just not funny"2. Liberal commentators were enthusiastic. The MeidasTouch account posted that it was "still laughing" at the Fox News statement, calling Newsom "absolutely ruthless"3. Matt Bennett of the center-left Third Way think tank told Newsweek the approach was "well-crafted and funny, and it's become a source of real catharsis for Democrats who seethe all day at Trump's outrages"3.

Not everyone was sold. Democratic strategist Doug Gordon warned that "social media is not real life, and most voters will never see it"3. One analysis labeled Newsom "America's Alcibiades," talented and good-looking but "self-aggrandizing, incapable of shame, and in it only for himself and the love of the game"2. Critics pointed to the disastrous LA wildfire response earlier in 2025 and California's cost of living and homelessness crises as reasons the strategy might not translate nationally2.

Newsom himself seemed aware the gag had a shelf life. "I've quite enjoyed myself," he told a Politico event, adding that his goal was "putting the mirror up to the absurdity of all of this"2. But he also framed it as deadly serious: "The deeper question is how we've allowed the normalization of his tweets and social posts over the last many years to go without similar scrutiny and notice"3.