Gov. Gavin Newsom of California, long seen as a rising star in a struggling Democratic Party, acknowledged this week that he is indeed eyeing a future presidential run — even as he ramps up criticism of President Donald J. Trump, who returned to the White House in January.
In an interview taped Thursday with CBS News’s Robert Costa, Newsom was pressed directly on whether he intends to seriously weigh a 2028 presidential campaign once the midterm elections conclude.
“Yeah, I’d be lying otherwise. I’d just be lying. And I’m not — I can’t do that,” Newsom replied, offering his clearest admission to date that he sees himself as a potential contender to lead the Democratic field.
Costa noted that he had seen Newsom speaking with prospective voters in South Carolina over the summer — a state known for its pivotal role in Democratic primary politics and a frequent testing ground for those with national aspirations. “I thought, ‘This guy might run for president,’” Costa said.
Newsom laughed it off, briefly adopting a folksy humility that rarely accompanies such political positioning. “I have no idea,” he said. He then added that his own path to prominence remains improbable, describing himself as “a guy who got 960 on his SAT, that still struggles to read scripts, that was always in the back of the classroom.”
“The idea that you even throw that out is, in and of itself, extraordinary,” the governor continued. In the next breath, he nodded to the uncertainty that lies ahead: “Who the hell knows. I’m looking forward to who presents themselves in 2028 and who meets that moment. And that’s the question for the American people.”
While Newsom insists that his political future remains unwritten, he has positioned himself as one of the most vocal and visible opponents to President Trump’s second administration, often stepping into the national spotlight to challenge federal policy and cultivate progressive audiences outside California.
In the interview, which aired on “CBS News Sunday Morning,” Newsom went beyond policy disagreements, attacking Trump personally. He called the president an “invasive species” and a “wrecking ball,” referring both to ongoing renovations that have closed the East Wing of the White House and what he described as the president’s broader impact on democracy and America’s role in the world.
“He’s a wrecking ball, not just the symbolism and substance of the East Wing,” Newsom said. “He’s wrecking alliances, truth, trust, tradition, institutions.”
Such rhetoric reflects a growing liberal effort to cast the Trump presidency as an existential threat — even as prominent Democrats struggle to articulate a coherent national agenda following their stinging electoral losses. For Newsom, the strategy doubles as a proving ground: a way to signal leadership to a party searching for direction.
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