California Gov. Gavin Newsom has continued his strident campaign of mocking Donald Trump, especially on social media. This time, it was directed at Trump’s continuing love for North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.
Trump, during his first term, met three times with the North Korean leader, becoming the first U.S. president in decades to meet with a member of the Kim dynasty. However, that diplomatic opening never led to any significant peace or denuclearization agreements. In recent days, Trump has been discussing his admiration for Kim again, even touting it during a meeting on Monday with South Korea’s president. Going back to the Korean War in the early 1950s, the U.S. has been closely allied with South Korea, and not with North Korea.
“I know him better than you do,” Trump said while seated next to South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Monday. “I know him better than anybody almost, other than his sister. His sister knows him pretty well. No, I know him well. And I got along with him. You know, I’m not supposed to say I really like him a lot because if I do that, I get killed in the fake news media. But I got along with him very well.”
Trump: I have a great relationship with Kim Jong Un. I understand him. I spent a lot of free time with him talking about things that we probably aren’t supposed to talk about pic.twitter.com/1reTdCx814
— FactPost (@factpostnews) August 25, 2025
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Then came Newsom.
The California governor’s “Governor Newsom Press Office” account on X responded to a photo the U.S. Department of Labor posted of Trump’s picture on the side of its headquarters, with what The Daily Beast described as “a photo of a large mural of former North Korean leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il that is installed in Pyongyang.”:
THANK YOU, GLORIOUS LEADER! https://t.co/4ew9jyDDGp pic.twitter.com/B0DY09r6iN
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) August 25, 2025
The California governor has compared Trump to a dictator before, most notably during the ICE protests and crackdown in Los Angeles back in June, before the beginning of the Governor Newsom Press Office trolling campaign.
– Inciting and provoking violence
– Creating mass chaos
– Militarizing cities
– Arresting opponentsThese are the acts of a dictator, not a President. https://t.co/e4YjBMPtna
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) June 8, 2025
Photo courtesy of the Political Tribune media library.
