California Gov. Gavin Newsom trolled President “DONALD ‘TACO’ TRUMP” with an all-caps social media post, complete with run-on sentences and random quotation marks, announcing California’s response to Republican gerrymandering.
Facing the prospect of losing control of the House of Representatives during next year’s midterm elections, Trump has pressured several red states to immediately redraw their congressional districts to give Republicans an advantage.
The maps are usually redrawn once every 10 years, after the census is completed, and not mid-decade. On Monday, Newsom sent the president a letter asking him to call off the “unprecedented, mid-decade, hyper-partisan gerrymander to rig the upcoming midterm elections.”
“If you will not stand down, I will be forced to lead an effort to redraw the maps in California to offset the rigging of maps in red states,” he wrote. “But if the other states call off their redistricting efforts, we will happily do the same. And American democracy will be better for it.”
Newsom then followed up Tuesday with a trolling all-caps post saying Trump had 24 hours to respond to his letter, and when that failed, he went full MAGA, writing in a social media post:
“DONALD ‘TACO’ TRUMP, AS MANY CALL HIM, ‘MISSED’ THE DEADLINE!!! CALIFORNIA WILL NOW DRAW NEW, MORE ‘BEAUTIFUL MAPS,’ THEY WILL BE HISTORIC AS THEY WILL END THE TRUMP PRESIDENCY (DEMS TAKE BACK THE HOUSE!).”
Among Wall Street traders, the president’s flip-flopping on tariff policy earned him the nickname “TACO” for Trump Always Chickens Out.
Newsom’s post further announced a “BIG PRESS CONFERENCE THIS WEEK WITH POWERFUL DEMS AND GAVIN NEWSOM — YOUR FAVORITE GOVERNOR — THAT WILL BE DEVASTATING FOR ‘MAGA.’ THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER! — GN.”
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment.
Facing record-low polling numbers, Trump launched a redistricting arms race last month when he asked Texas for “just a simple redraw” of its congressional maps to help Republicans pick up five seats in the Lone Star State.
Democrats vowed to retaliate in states like California, New York and Illinois, prompting Republicans to eye states like Republican-controlled states such as Ohio and Indiana.
Unlike Texas, though, California has an independent commission that draws political maps, and Newsom will need to push through a special ballot measure in November to carry out his redistricting plans.
During an interview Tuesday with Fox News, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis claimed California’s commission was a “ruse” and the state map is already gerrymandered.
“The Thirst Queen has emerged,” Newsom’s office hit back on social media. “We will not be lectured on democracy by someone who lost to a cartoon mouse with gloves.”
Florida became locked in a battle royale with The Walt Disney Company in 2022 when Disney’s former CEO Bob Chapek vowed to work to overturn a 2022 state law—colloquially known as the “Don’t Say Gay” law—that prohibited classroom discussion of sexuality.
DeSantis retaliated by working with Republican lawmakers to pass a measure revoking Disney’s self-governing status. Disney sued, and the case was settled in 2024.
The Daily Beast has reached out to DeSantis’ office for comment.
