California Governor Gavin Newsom has escalated his ongoing social media campaign against President Donald Trump by publishing a mock up of limited edition California license plates bearing his own photograph, a direct response to the administration’s announcement that Trump’s image will appear in a special edition US passport.
The parody post, shared from the official California governor’s office account on X, was written in Trump’s signature all caps style and mimicked the president’s characteristic attacks on media organisations, this time targeting Fox News host Sean Hannity.
Newsom’s post claimed the plates were directed by him personally, praised the unnamed head of the California Department of Motor Vehicles in the same flattering terms Trump typically reserves for his own appointees, and signed off with the title “Governor of the Free World.”
The episode follows an earlier round of trolling in which Newsom posted a mock up of California driver’s licences featuring his own face, an apparent reference to the administration’s announcement that Trump would become the first sitting US president to have his image printed inside American travel documents.
The State Department confirmed on 28 April that a limited edition passport would be released to mark the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, featuring a prominent image of Trump superimposed over the declaration alongside his signature.
Newsom has used similar tactics throughout Trump’s second term, repeatedly deploying the president’s rhetorical style against him on social media as a way of drawing attention to policies the California governor opposes.
The mock licence plates and the passport response are the latest episodes in what has become a running public confrontation between two of the country’s most prominent political figures ahead of a potential 2028 presidential cycle.
