California Gov. Promises US Alliances Aren't Dead—Just Taking Naps

KEY POINTS

•At the World Economic Forum in Davos on January 2026, Gavin Newsom shared a hopeful view that U.S. alliances are 'dormant, not dead'.
•Newsom criticized Trump’s harsh tactics including tariff threats over Greenland and labeled Trump a 'charlatan and grifter'.
•He urged European leaders to stop being complicit in Trump’s bullying, calling current diplomacy 'a T-Rex game'.

At the 2026 World Economic Forum in Davos, California Governor Gavin Newsom showed remarkable optimism by declaring the US-led global order 'dormant, not dead,' delicately tiptoeing around brutal realities. Amid Trump’s spectacle—threatening Arctic invasions and tariffs—the crowd was obsessed with Canadian PM Mark Carney's eulogy of US global dominance. Newsom even called Trump a 'charlatan and grifter' who brands him 'Gavin New-scum' while confidently predicting a market-induced Greenland course correction and Trump's midterm downfall. Between sips of international awkwardness, Newsom urged European leaders to 'buck up' and stop wearing metaphorical knee pads, painting diplomacy as a prehistoric dino game where you either mate or get eaten.