California Governor Gavin Newsom landed in Munich, Germany this weekend to attend the Munich Security Conference — appearing on a climate panel and meeting with Denmark's foreign minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen — while back home, his state staggers under the weight of devastating wildfires, roughly 116,000 homeless residents, rampant drug overdoses, and a proposed billionaires' tax that is already driving wealth out of the state.
This is the second international trip in as many months. The Daily Mail reported that last month, Newsom attended the World Economic Forum in Davos. Before that, a visit to Brazil to announce a climate partnership. His office says the governor has "stepped up as the leading US presence on the global stage."
The governor of a state. The global stage.
Newsom isn't hiding the ball anymore — if he ever was. At the Munich climate panel, he told attendees that President Trump was "temporary," adding:
"He'll be gone in three years."
That's not diplomacy. That's a campaign stump speech delivered on foreign soil. Eric Schickler, a professor of political science at UC Berkeley, told the San Francisco Chronicle what everyone already knows:
"This is a standard strategy that you use when you're running for president, especially if you're running as a governor."
Newsom isn't the only Democrat treating Munich like an early primary stop. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer — both described as potential 2028 nominees — were also scheduled to attend. The Munich Security Conference has apparently doubled as a Democratic beauty pageant.
Meanwhile, Newsom's rhetoric abroad grows sharper with each trip. His official statement before departing framed the whole excursion as a counter to Washington:
"While Donald Trump continues to demonstrate that he is unstable and unreliable, California is leaning in on the partnerships that make California stronger, Americans safer, and our planet healthier."
His office added that the trip comes as the Trump administration "undermines alliances and retreats from climate leadership." The framing is unmistakable: Newsom isn't governing California. He's auditioning to govern America — and using foreign capitals as his backdrop.
The Munich trip follows a revealing episode at Davos last month. Newsom claimed he was denied access to the US headquarters at the World Economic Forum following pressure from the Trump administration. His response, posted on X:
"How weak and pathetic do you have to be to be this scared of a fireside chat?"
The White House Rapid Response account offered a different read on the situation:
"The failing Governor of California (rampant with fraud) watches from the corner cuck chair as @POTUS delivers a true masterclass in Davos. Embarrassing!"
Newsom defended the Davos trip by leaning into California's economic heft:
"Give me a category and California outperforms. Fourth largest economy in the world, so we can punch above our weight. We can come here with formal authority and a little moral authority."
He continued:
"And I tell you, we need a little moral authority in our body politic in the United States of America today."
Moral authority. The governor presiding over 116,000 homeless people and a wildfire recovery effort that has drawn bipartisan frustration.
The crises Newsom keeps flying away from aren't abstractions. They are Californians without homes, without answers, and increasingly without patience.
The Los Angeles wildfires devastated communities, and Newsom's rebuilding plan has faced significant pushback. Spencer Pratt — the reality star who announced a run for Los Angeles mayor — captured a frustration shared well beyond celebrity circles when he posted on X:
"Nobody actually believes that giving the STATE money will help fire victims rebuild their homes."
He followed up:
"We have all seen billions of federal dollars fall into Newsom's bottomless money pit, without a single dollar seen by the intended recipients."
When a reality television personality is making a more compelling case for government accountability than the state's elected opposition, something has gone sideways.
Then there's the proposed billionaires' tax — a one-time levy of 5% on net worth, covering stocks, bonds, artwork, and intellectual property, with billionaires given five years to pay. It hasn't been voted on or signed into law yet, but the signal alone has been enough.
Google cofounders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, venture capitalist Peter Thiel, and tech investor David Sacks have all made moves to leave the state. California currently has roughly 200 billionaires. The question is how many it will have once Sacramento finishes telling them they're ATMs.
The tax targets net worth, not income — a distinction that matters enormously. This isn't a higher marginal rate on earnings. It's the state claiming a percentage of what people own. The flight of capital isn't a mystery. It's a rational response.
There's a particular kind of politician who believes that looking important is the same thing as being effective. Newsom's international itinerary — Brazil, Davos, Munich — reads like the calendar of a man who has decided that his state's problems are less interesting than his own ambitions.
Consider the math. California's governor is flying to Europe to talk about climate leadership while his state's wealthiest residents pack their bags. He's meeting with foreign ministers while wildfire victims wait for rebuilding funds. He's telling foreign audiences that the sitting president is "temporary" while 116,000 Californians sleep without permanent shelter.
Newsom wants the world to see him as America's shadow president — a serious man doing serious work on the global stage. But you don't earn moral authority by claiming it at a podium in Munich. You earn it by solving the problems in your own backyard.
California's crises will still be there when the governor lands. They always are.
