Donald Trump spiraled into a strange tirade against California Governor Gavin Newsom on Tuesday, lashing out over what he cryptically described as “strange hand action” and bizarrely linking it to crime, the Olympics, and a supposed need for military control of American cities.
Speaking at the end of a cabinet meeting, Trump abruptly pivoted to attack Newsom without prompting, calling the Democratic governor “incompetent” and launching into a rambling diatribe that left reporters stunned.
“I know him very well,” Trump said. “He’s incompetent. He’s a nice guy, looks good.”
Then it got weirder.
“He’s got some strange hand action going on,” Trump continued. “I don’t know what the hell is his problem. It’s a little weird to be honest, a little something shaky going on there.”
Trump offered no clarification on what “hand action” he was referring to, nor did he explain why he saw it as politically relevant. Instead, he jumped to the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, using the opportunity to talk up his support for using military force to crack down on crime.
“All he has to do is call me and say, ‘We have the Olympics coming up, we want to make it really good,’ and say, and I’ll put some really good, great American patriots in there and you won’t have any problems,” Trump said. “Don’t forget, it’s loaded up with some stone cold killers, some really bad people, some people that were just born to be bad, they’re criminals, bad criminals, dangers, and we can solve the problem for them very quickly.”
It’s unclear what prompted the meltdown, but for nearly two weeks, Newsom has been relentlessly trolling Trump — mocking his policy failures and social media meltdowns. Trump’s comments Tuesday, laced with vague threats and odd personal jabs, suggested the governor’s jabs might be hitting a nerve.
Watch the full video below — Trump’s remarks about Newsom begin at the 2:57 mark.
