California Governor Gavin Newsom mocks President Trump over redistricting with ‘second-to-last warning’ post

WASHINGTON: California Governor Gavin Newsom trolled US President Donald Trump on Tuesday with a social media post declaring a “SECOND-TO-LAST WARNING” in the ongoing blue state/red state battle over redistricting, The Hill reported.

“DONALD TRUMP, THE LOWEST POLLING PRESIDENT IN RECENT HISTORY, THIS IS YOUR SECOND-TO-LAST WARNING!!! (THE NEXT ONE IS THE LAST ONE!)”, Newsom’s press office posted on the social platform X. “STAND DOWN NOW OR CALIFORNIA WILL COUNTER-STRIKE (LEGALLY!) TO DESTROY YOUR ILLEGAL CROOKED MAPS IN RED STATES”.

https://t.co/o5zco4HDMd

— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) August 12, 2025

The post continued, “PRESS CONFERENCE COMING HOSTED BY AMERICA’S FAVORITE GOVERNOR, GAVIN NEWSOM. FINAL WARNING NEXT. YOU WON’T LIKE IT!!! THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER.”

According to The Hill, Trump frequently uses his Truth Social feed to issue similarly styled missives about policies and to air political grievances. Among the hallmarks of Trump’s posts that Newsom sarcastically copied were thanking followers for their “attention to this matter,” curious uses of punctuation, capitalization and parenthetical asides, and references to himself as the “favorite” president.

Newsom also appeared to mock Trump’s waffling warnings and deadlines that prompted the spread of the “TACO” moniker, short for “Trump Always Chickens Out”. The White House did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment on Newsom’s post.

Newsom, who is seen as a potential contender for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination, sent a letter to Trump on Monday urging the President to end the redistricting tit for tat that has swelled in states amid a battle over Trump’s call for Texas to draw a map more favorable to Republicans. “This attempt to rig congressional maps to hold onto power before a single vote is cast in the 2026 election is an affront to American democracy”, the governor wrote, The Hill reported.

Newsom also took aim Tuesday at Trump’s recent emergency declaration in the nation’s capital to allow federal intervention in D.C.’s crime-fighting efforts as well as the president’s threats to expand his efforts to other Democrat-led cities.

“President Trump is peddling the same tired lie he used in Los Angeles claiming there’s rampant lawlessness in Democratic cities like Washington, D.C.,” Newsom said in a news release, highlighting high crime rates in GOP-led states. “His authoritarian orders aren’t about safety they’re an attack on the very foundation of our nation and a slap in the face to democracy”. (ANI)