California Governor Gavin Newsom took center stage at the UN climate summit in the Amazon after US President Donald Trump skipped the event. The Democrat, seen as a potential 2028 presidential candidate, launched sharp criticism at Trump’s fossil fuel agenda, accusing him of “doubling down on stupid” by backing Big Oil and twice withdrawing from the Paris climate accord.
Speaking in Belem, Brazil, Newsom vowed that a future Democratic administration would rejoin the Paris Agreement “without hesitation,” calling it both “a moral commitment and an economic imperative.” He highlighted California’s leadership in renewable energy, noting that two-thirds of the state’s power now comes from clean sources.
Newsom met with Brazilian and German officials, including the governor of Para and the Brazilian COP30 president, as media attention followed him like a national leader.
While regional leaders like Newsom and New Mexico’s Michelle Lujan Grisham cannot join formal negotiations, they emphasized the role of states in advancing climate goals. Newsom urged world leaders to resist intimidation from Trump’s administration, declaring, “Trump is temporary. You stand up to a bully.”
