Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom of California says he’ll consider presidential run after 2026 midterms

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a leading Democratic critic of President Donald Trump, says he will consider running for the White House in 2028 after the midterm elections next year.

Asked in an interview with “CBS Sunday Morning” whether if would be fair to say he would give a campaign serious thought after the November 2026 vote, the term-limited governor said, “I’d be lying otherwise.”

Newsom has been trying to raise his national profile, adopting a combative style that parodies Trump’s social media strategy with similar all-caps posts, memes and merchandise.

The Democratic governor has sparred with the Republican president over the deployment of the California National Guard following immigration protests and Trump’s redistricting moves in Texas. Newsom has also led a campaign to redraw California’s own maps to add five Democratic U.S. House seats in response to the changes in Texas. Voting is underway on the so-called Proposition 50 and concludes Nov. 4.

“I’m looking forward to who presents themselves in 2028 and who meets that moment. And that’s the question for the American people,” he said in the interview that aired Sunday.

The feud between Trump and Newsom does not seem like it’s going away anytime soon. On Thursday, Trump acknowledged he had agreed to halt a planned show of federal force planned for this weekend in San Francisco after appeals from tech executives and the mayor. Newsom was mayor of San Francisco between 2004 and 2011.

In the interview, Newsom described Trump as an “invasive species.”

“He’s a wrecking ball. Not just the symbolism and substance of the East Wing,” Newsom said, referring to the demolition of that part of the White House to build a ballroom. “He’s wrecking alliances, truth, trust, tradition, institutions.”

Earlier this year, Newsom launched a podcast in an effort to brand himself as a centrist. During the show, he has held conversations with influential figures all across the political spectrum, from late conservative Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated on a college campus tour, as well as former Trump strategist Steve Bannon, to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who was former Vice President Kamala Harris’ 2024 running mate, and U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, a Texas Democrat.