Newsom pleads with U.S. allies in Europe to see Trump as temporary

California Governor Gavin Newsom told a panel at the Munich Security Conference Saturday that he traveled there to reassure European allies that “Trump is temporary.”

“He’ll be measured in years, not decades,” Newsom said, predicting Trump would suffer heavy losses in the midterm elections and face legal setbacks, including limits on his tariff authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

President Donald Trump’s brand of politics does not represent enduring American values, Newsom added. The governor instead urged leaders to maintain stable subnational partnerships with US states like California during what he called a period of “instability” for America, and argued that Europe has grown more unified in response to Trump-era uncertainty. 

“Maybe that is the one contribution of Donald Trump,” he said.

Framing his remarks as a defense of democratic norms, the Democratic governor, who is widely believed to be considering a 2028 presidential run, contrasted what he called “the rule of law” with “the rule of Don,” warning against an “imperial presidency.”

Newsom alluded to Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s speech at the conference earlier Saturday. Rubio offered a double-edged message in his speech, saying that Europe’s fate is intertwined w...