JD Vance tells Gavin Newsom: Stop trying to be like Trump
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- JD Vance warned Gavin Newsom against mimicking Trump’s political style.
- Federal officials threaten funding cuts to states resisting immigration laws.
- Newsom urges Democrats to fight GOP policies, raising speculation of 2028 bid.
Stop trying to mimic President Donald Trump with all the tough talk, Vice President JD Vance is telling Gov. Gavin Newsom.
“I mean, this idea that Gavin Newsom is somehow going to mimic Donald Trump’s style, I think that ignores the fundamental genius of President Trump’s political success, which is that he’s authentic,” Vance said Wednesday night on Fox News Channel’s “The Ingraham Angle.”
“He just is who he is. You have got to be yourself. You have actually got to talk to people honestly about the issues,” Vance said of Trump. “Stop sounding like crazy people.”
Newsom fired back on X, tweeting “He almost got it.”
Vance’s comments came hours after Newsom urged Democrats at a national news conference to play “hardball” with Republicans eager to redistrict GOP-friendly states. Newsom has also been blasting away at Trump on his podcast and on X.
Vance is regarded as the likely 2028 Republican presidential frontrunner, since Trump is barred from seeking another term.
Vance could very well be pitted against Newsom. Though he has not said he will seek the White House, the governor’s presidential stock has been rising since he became the leader in the effort to fight GOP mid-decade redistricting.
In the interview Wednesday, Vance also reiterated a longstanding administration threat to act against California and other places that it believed were not properly enforcing Trump-friendly policies.
“I don’t want to get ahead of any administration announcements, but we are looking at a whole host of points of leverage we can exercise over California and other states and make sure they comply with the law,” he said.
Vance’s office had not responded to a request for comment by deadline.
Trump did comment on Newsom’s tough talk late Wednesday, though. “Gavin Newscum is way down in the polls. He is viewed as the man who is destroying the once Great State of California,” Trump tweeted. “I will save California!!!”
Newsom responded with one word: “Triggered?”
A University of California, Irvine School of Social Ecology poll in the late spring found that “the federal government’s clash with California over recent immigration raids seems to have improved Californians’ impression of Newsom.” It said 56% of Californians rated Newsom as “somewhat favorable” or “strongly favorable.”
Trump’s threats
Trump has been threatening since he took office in January to withhold funds from jurisdictions that do not comply with his crackdown on undocumented immigrants.
Earlier this year, the administration and U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson suggested conditions for a disaster aid package to help recovery efforts from this winter’s Los Angeles-area wildfires.
Trump proposed including requiring voter ID laws for Californians and a revamping of the state’s water flow. California already requires people to show identification before voting.
Johnson talked about taking steps to help prevent future disasters.
“Had they been careful stewards, had they managed their forests, had they managed their water, it would have been a different outcome and I think there needs to be some accountability for that,” he said.
Congress has still not approved the disaster funds.
Also being discussed is holding back transportation money. California gets billions of dollars each year in transportation aid. Vance would not specifically comment on it.
There could be more such action coming from the White House.
“We have a lot of points of leverage here,” Vance said Wednesday, “but fundamentally, I think the American people have to stand with us here, because when we go and tell the governor of California or the governor of New York that you have to stop putting the interests of illegal aliens over American citizens, we need the American people to stand with us.”
Whether the administration can withhold money approved by Congress has been the subject of court challenges all year.
It was able to pull back $9 billion in already-approved foreign aid and public broadcasting funds. The administration is said to be considering another such package next month.
Newsom fires away
Newsom has been savagely criticizing Trump on social media recently, and Wednesday, joined a national Democratic Party news conference to urge party members to play “hardball” with the president.
“It’s about the rule of Don versus the rule of law,” Newsom told reporters. “There’s a new energy out there all across this country, and we are going to meet fire with fire.”
Democrats, Vance said, make too many wild claims. They’re too supportive of transgender rights, he said: “They’re still talking about letting men play in women’s sports.”
Democrats are also too eager to criticize Trump’s crackdown on crime in Washington, D.C. (even though violent crime was down last year and so far this year.)
“If you look at the crime issue, they’re calling Donald Trump a fascist for taking action,” Vance said. “So part of sounding less crazy is being less crazy. And if the Democrats were less crazy, I think we’d all get along a whole lot better.”
This story was originally published August 21, 2025 at 2:29 PM with the headline "JD Vance tells Gavin Newsom: Stop trying to be like Trump."
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