Gavin Newsom Takes Aim at Donald Trump, Asks If He Has Finally 'Lost It'

California Gov. Gavin Newsom asked if President Donald Trump had "finally lost it" after the president posted a series of bizarre AI-generated images on social media over the weekend.

The latest escalation in the long-running feud between the two politicians erupted after the prolific Truth Social poster shared an intentionally grainy, AI-generated photo depicting himself walking through a military base alongside secret agents and a chained alien.

Newsom seized on the post, sharing it on X with the caption: "The President of the United States just posted this. Do you think he's lost it?"

Trump shared the alien photograph as part of a rapid-fire burst of 19 AI-generated posts on Truth Social in less than 75 minutes.

Trump responded by sharing an image of a mock California license plate reading "NEW-SCM," a reference to the president’s nickname for the governor, depicting Newsom in a zombie-like state.

Newsom’s press office countered the zombie image by posting, "Even a Zombie Newscum still looks healthier than our current President. #PrayersforGrandpa.”

This is not the first time Newsom has targeted the 79-year-old president's mental acuity. For nearly a year, Newsom has increasingly integrated attacks on Trump’s cognitive fitness into his political strategy.

He has previously called the president "a cognitive mess," and a "brain-dead moron," pointed to his verbal slips — such as when Trump mistakenly referred to Newsom as the "President of the United States"— and frequently argues that Trump is showing a rapid decline in real-time.

After Trump went on a homophonic rant about the difference between “sea” and “see” during a speech in early May, Newsom posted in Trump-style all caps that “‘LITTLE D’S’ BRAIN IS DECLINING RAPIDLY IN REAL TIME," adding, “TODAY HE WAS CONFUSED BY THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ‘SEE’ AND ‘SEA.’ VERY SAD!”

Newsom also referenced reports that Trump’s aides are worried about signs of cognitive decline, claiming, “HIS HANDLERS ARE TERRIFIED AND DESPERATELY TRYING TO HIDE IT FROM THE PUBLIC.”

The 58-year-old comely California governor challenged Trump to take a live cognitive test on national television, joking that “SEAN ‘SLUMPY RATINGS’ HANNITY WOULD BE PERFECT” to host it.

The confrontation comes amid a broader political war between California's leadership and the White House, with Newsom heavily campaigning to damage Trump's legislative agenda ahead of the crucial 2026 midterm elections.

Newsom strongly condemned recent Republican-led voting and congressional map changes across several states, describing efforts to alter Black legislative representation as "stone-cold racism.”

He has also dismissed claims by Vice President J.D. Vance about a federal anti-fraud task force investigating California's spending, while Newsom's team highlighted the state's record on fraud prevention.

The California Democrat is currently the clear frontrunner for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination. He has solidified his position as the top candidate, leading major national polling averages and pacing far ahead of other potential contenders, such as Kamala Harris and Pete Buttigieg, in both polls and betting markets.