President Donald Trump and California Gov. Gavin Newsom engaged in a public war of words this week in Davos, Switzerland, but a Washington, D.C., insider revealed the pair indulged in some friendly backstage backslapping.
Trump called out Newsom during his speech Wednesday, saying they “used to get along” in his first term, and the governor panned the address later as “remarkably boring,” but later journalist Mark Haperin reported on X that the pair enjoyed a moment of “bonhomie” on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum.
“According to sources in both camps, the two men engaged in affable small talk backstage in a wide hallway area before the president’s speech,” Halperin posted Thursday night. “Trump was, of course, with his Secret Service detail, while Newsom was escorted through the VIP area reserved for high-level elected officials by World Economic Forum staff and Swiss police.”
Newsom’s press office accused the administration from blocking him from the USA House, the official American headquarters at Davos, and the White House fired back with a statement attacking “Newscum” as a “third-rate governor” who’s “frolicking around Switzerland instead of fixing the many problems he created in California,” but Halperin’s sources say the pair seemingly buried the hatchet.
“No one who knows Donald Trump will be surprised to hear that he laid it on thick, deploying that super charming, winking manner that he uses in such cases,” Halperin posted. “There was friendly banter all around, and mutual laughter when the president announced, ‘Gavin, we’re good.’”
“Newsom, no stranger to faux towel snapping,” he added, “gave Trump a little s— in a jovial and jokey manner.”
White House chief of staff Susie Wiles joined in the chat, according to Halperin, while press secretary Karoline Leavitt and deputy chiefs of staff James Blair and Stephen Miller hovered nearby.
Newsom’s team claimed Wednesday evening that Miller had “refused to even make eye contact” with the governor backstage, and it’s not clear whether that’s referring to the same encounter, but Halperin’s sources say the Trump adviser was less engaged.
“Leavitt is said to have had a friendly exchange with the Golden State topper, complete with mutual acknowledgment and smiles, with Blair and Newsom enjoying similar bonhomie, having spent quality time together in February of last year when the governor was at the White House,” Halperin wrote. “Miller, on the other hand, appeared to be less enthusiastic about engaging.”
Trump, for his part, fired off an insulting Truth Social post attacking Newsom after leaving the event.
“Gavin Newscum, as a ‘Lame Duck’ Governor of a Failing State, should not be at Davos running around screaming for the attention of Foreign Leaders, and embarrassing our Country,” Trump posted Thursday evening. “He made a mockery of himself, and everybody, including his staff, knows it!”
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