Newsom calls Trump an ‘invasive species’ and ‘wrecking ball’ in fiery remarks at COP30 climate summit

By Laura Paddison, CNN

(CNN) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom pulled no punches at the COP30 climate talks in Brazil on Tuesday, calling President Donald Trump an “invasive species” and a “wrecking ball” during discussions about the US absence from global climate action.

Newsom, a Democrat widely viewed as a likely presidential candidate in 2028, is the most high-profile US political figure attending the talks in the Amazon city of Belém. The Trump administration made the unprecedented decision not to send a high-level delegation to the annual talks — the latest move in its sharp pull away from global climate action.

Trump has spent the past year tearing up climate policies, seeking to strangle clean energy projects, pushing other countries to buy US oil and gas and withdrawing the US from the Paris climate agreement. In a speech at the United Nations in September, Trump called climate change a “con job.”

Newsom, who has a history of sparring with Trump, appears to be using COP30 as an opportunity to set out a different vision for US climate action. “I do not want the United States of America to be a footnote on climate policy,” he said at an event Tuesday.

He took sharp, personal aim at Trump for abandoning efforts to tackle the climate crisis. “He’s an invasive species. He is. He’s a wrecking ball president. And he’s trying to roll back progress of the last century … he’s doubling down on stupid,” Newsom said.

Trump’s stance is handing victory to China, he added. China is dominating clean energy supply chains and manufacturing “because they understand the great economic opportunity,” Newsom said.

Newsom was also asked about the Trump administration’s reported plan to open the California coast to oil and gas drilling, as reported in The Washington Post yesterday based on a leaked draft map.

“It’s never going to happen. Over our dead body. Dead on arrival. Period. Full stop,” Newsom said. He asked the audience to consider why Trump might be targeting California. “He has no interest in opening up oil drilling rigs right off the coast of Florida, across the street from Mar-a-Lago,” he said.

The White House shot back with its own fiery reply to Newsom’s comments.

Taylor Rogers, a White House spokesperson, sent this in response to a request for comment: “Governor Newscum flew all the way to Brazil to tout the Green New Scam, while Californians are paying some of the highest energy prices in the country. Embarrassing! If Gavin Newscum’s support for the climate agenda was sincere, he would not be attending a climate summit that required chopping down thousands of acres of protected Amazon rainforest for a special purpose highway. It’s time for Newscum and other countries to drop the climate facade. President Trump will not allow the best interest of the American people to be jeopardized by the Green Energy Scam. These Green Dreams are killing other countries, but will not kill ours thanks to President Trump’s commonsense energy agenda.”

The special-purpose highway Rogers referred to is a four-lane road built through the rainforest to Belém, which Brazilian authorities say was planned before the city’s COP bid.

Newsom also spoke about the need to make the climate crisis more tangible. Talking about average global temperature rises and using terms like “greenhouse gas” makes climate change seem “abstract,” he said.

People can see climate change unfolding before their eyes, he added, referring to the devastating Los Angeles wildfires in January, which scientists say were made larger and more intense by planet-warming pollution.

Newsom also talked about the need for the Democratic party to reframe climate action around affordability in upcoming elections, pointing to rising energy costs as Trump pulls away from clean energy and an insurance crisis unfolding in the US as extreme weather becomes increasingly destructive.

“We have to talk in terms that people understand … it’s about people, it’s about places, it’s about lifestyles, it’s about traditions,” he said.

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