Newsom Hits Trump Where It Hurts Over Rocky Putin Bromance
The president’s troller-in-chief suggested that Putin is leading Trump into a trap.
California Governor Gavin Newsom has launched a scathing attack on President Donald Trump regarding the “complicit friendship” the latter maintains with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.
On Thursday, Mr. Newsom posted an AI-generated image suggesting that Putin is setting a trap for Trump, accompanying it with a sarcastic caption alluding to the President’s well-known fondness for McDonald’s meals.
The image depicts Trump—aged 79—advancing toward a McDonald’s meal box, completely oblivious to the fact that Putin—aged 73—is holding a wooden crate suspended by a rope above the food, ready to drop it to trap the President at the precise moment he is about to take a bite of a Big Mac.
Trump—whose usual favorite meal reportedly consists of a Big Mac, a Filet-O-Fish, fries, and a vanilla milkshake—seeks to cultivate a close friendship with Putin, even as the Russian autocrat wages war against Ukraine and presides over one of the most brutal authoritarian regimes on the planet.
Indeed, the Commander-in-Chief even had a photograph of Putin hung in the “Palm Room”—the room connecting the West Wing to the Executive Residence within the White House. The image features Trump and Putin during their ill-fated summit in Alaska last August.
In an attempt to quell the stock market turmoil triggered by his conflict with Iran, Trump temporarily lifted sanctions on Russian oil last week—doing so despite reports indicating that Putin is providing Iran with intelligence intended to target American interests and assets in the region.
Mr. Newsom, 58, reacted to this news by branding Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent as Putin’s “obedient little boys”—speaking out, once again, through the medium of an AI-generated image.
Trump had decided to lift sanctions against Russia following what he described as a “good call” with Putin on March 9—a conversation focused on ways to bring an end to the war in Ukraine.
“We were discussing Ukraine, which looks like a battle that never ends,” Trump stated regarding the matter. “Given the immense animosity between President Putin and President Zelensky, it seems they are incapable of reaching any mutual understanding.”
He added: “However, I believe it was a positive call regarding this subject.” Subsequently, the Kremlin was quick to undermine the narrative Trump had presented regarding the substance of that conversation. Putin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters: “Trump made no requests for a ceasefire in Ukraine during his conversation with Putin.”
This statement constitutes a direct refutation of Trump’s claim that he had urged his Russian counterpart to “put an end to the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia.” When asked about the veracity of reports suggesting that Moscow is assisting Tehran in targeting U.S. sites, Peskov offered no denial; he simply stated: “We will not comment on this matter.”
According to some reports, Putin’s close advisors are privately—and mockingly—whispering behind Trump’s back, convinced that the “Russian autocrat” is manipulating the Commander-in-Chief as if playing a musical instrument.
In this context, a senior British security official confided to The Spectator magazine last month: “The Russians privately mock Trump’s naïveté regarding Putin’s intentions; for Putin has no intention whatsoever of ending the war.”
