California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) made a stark prediction about what he thinks the fate of Donald Trump’s presidency will be after the 2026 midterms.
Speaking with MS NOW’s Jen Psaki on Wednesday’s edition of “The Briefing with Jen Psaki,” Newsom laid into the president after Psaki mentioned there has recently been “a lot of outrage” among Trump’s MAGA base over his administration’s handling of the Epstein files as well as Trump “doubling down on tariffs.”
Asking Newsom if he thinks anything has “shifted” since Trump has faced criticism from his own supporters, the governor responded by declaring that Trump’s presidency will “de facto end” when the Democratic Party wins elections in November.
“Even if [Trump and his supporters] fell out, he’s the president of the United States for the next three years. Good news, he’s temporary. That’s just three years. And the presidency as we know it will de facto end this November when we get the gavel back and Speaker [Hakeem] Jeffries becomes the next speaker, as long as we remain vigilant,” the Democratic governor told Psaki.
Newsom went on to accuse Trump of using “suppression tactics” to try and position the midterms in his favor by “nationaliz[ing] federal elections,” “vandaliz[ing] free and fair elections,” “going after [the] vote by mail [process],” and “sending out those masked [federal agents] all across this country.”
The governor added: “He’s a reality, and we can’t turn our back to that reality.”
Pivoting to discuss NPR’s Tuesday report that alleged that the Justice Department withheld and removed more than 50 Epstein files related to Trump, Newsom argued, “There’s a reason he’s single-handedly worked so hard to make sure they were never released … Period.”
After Psaki questioned what the reason was, Newsom replied that it’s “to be determined.”
Calling the NPR story “pretty damn alarming,” he continued, “Here’s what’s more alarming and this is my biggest concern — is that there’s a chance that we may not [ever] know for one reason.”
Telling Psaki that he can envision Trump “pardoning half the damn administration” and “things disappearing” on “[his] way out,” he stressed, “we need to be mindful of that. We need to be vigilant of that. This is the rule of Don. It’s the rule of the jungle. There’s no rule of law.”
Newsom added: “The courts are speed bumps [to Trump], they’re not stop signs. He tries to work around them. He doesn’t believe in coequal branches of government.”
Earlier in the interview, Newsom referred to Trump as a “broken man,” adding, “that’s why I think he tried to break our country.”
Watch Newsom’s interview below. Skip to the 19:15 mark to hear his comments.
