California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Monday blasted President Donald Trump's new FIFA Peace Prize as a symbol of national decline, sharpening his long-running feud with the president over what he calls performative honors and creeping authoritarianism.
Newsom Calls FIFA Honor ‘Total Embarrassment'
On X, Newsom wrote, "Trump's pathetic ‘peace prize' is a true sign of the deterioration of our nation and the Presidency. The groveling and the capitulation to this man and his ego is embarrassing."
He attached a clip from a recent interview with political commentator Jack Cocchiarella in which he calls Trump's receipt of the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize "a total embarrassment" and warns, "We will have a country that's simply unrecognizable if people don't have the courage of their convictions to stand up."
Governor Says Global Elites ‘Sell Out' To Trump
In the video, Newsom says it is "humiliating" for FIFA and foreign leaders to "crown" a U.S. president and argues that "some of the most powerful people in the world, the most well-connected and wealthy, sell out because of Donald Trump and sell our country out in return."
At the same time, he stresses he is not attacking the sport's global reach or the World Cup coming to California, but what he calls a "state of mind" that feels compelled to flatter "our dear leader."
Satire, Social Media And 2028 Speculation
Newsom's latest salvo comes after FIFA President Gianni Infantino presented Trump with the hastily created award last Friday during a high-profile weekend of Kennedy Center events in Washington.
On Sunday, Newsom's press office joined the pile-on with a satirical post showing a photoshopped image of the governor accepting a fictional "Kennedy Center Peace Prize," mimicking Trump's all-caps social media voice and joking about renaming the arts venue.
During the real Kennedy Center Honors, Trump himself teased calling the venue the "Trump Kennedy Center" while playing off the idea as a joke, amid broader Republican efforts to explore renaming parts of the institution after him and former first lady Melania Trump.
Newsom's post fits into a broader strategy of trolling Trump online with memes, parody merchandise and even a proposed "Trump Corruption Coin" memecoin, tactics that have drawn national attention and speculation about his own 2028 ambitions.
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