Allegations of interference at Davos. A leading American politician says he was not allowed to speak
California Governor Gavin Newsom speaks to the media after President Donald Trump's speech at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on January 21, 2026. PHOTO: Markus Schreiber / AP / Profimedia
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democratic critic of President Donald Trump, said he was barred from speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday, accusing the White House of interfering with the event he had planned.
“California just got turned down at the US House. As far as we know, California is part of the US,” Newsom wrote in a post on social media platform X, referring to the official US headquarters in Davos.
“How weak and pathetic do you have to be to be so scared of a family discussion?” added Newsom, who has previously said publicly that he is considering a run for the Democratic nomination for US president in 2028.
Newsom's press office blamed pressure from the Trump administration without providing evidence.
“Under pressure from the White House and the State Department, the USA House is now denying California Governor Gavin Newsom access to speak to the media after Fortune, the official media partner of the Davos Forum, invited him to speak,” Newsom's press office said Wednesday.
The Democratic governor's press office said Fortune invited Newsom this month for an informal discussion and that he accepted.
Fortune confirmed the invitation. In an emailed statement to Reuters, Fortune said the USA House had decided it would not be able to accept Newsom's participation and had communicated that decision to Fortune.
Trump and Newsom have clashed repeatedly since the Republican took office for a second term in the White House a year ago, including over the US leader's deployment of National Guard troops to the state of California over the summer. Trump regularly refers to the Democratic governor using the word “Newscum.”
“I know Gavin was here,” Trump said during his daytime speech in Davos.
Trump announces for the first time that he will not use force in Greenland, but “demands immediate negotiations to acquire this huge piece of ice”
“I've gotten along very well with Gavin in the past,” the White House leader added.
Newsom was seen in the room during Trump's speech, later telling reporters, “It was extremely boring. It was extremely insignificant. He was not going to invade Greenland. It was never real” the threat of using force to take over Greenland.
Earlier on Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent set the stage with his own mocking criticism of the California governor, saying Newsom “looks like a combination of Patrick Bateman and Sparkle Beach Ken to me,” referring to a fictional serial killer and a popular doll, the male version of the famous Barbie.
“He is too conceited, too self-centered and too ignorant of economics to know anything,” Bessent added.
