Trump slams energy deal between California and Britain, calls governor Newsom ‘loser’
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US President Donald Trump speaking to reporters at the White House in Washington on Feb 13, 2026.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump denounced a clean energy agreement between the United Kingdom and California Governor Gavin Newsom hours after it was signed on Feb 16, media outlet Politico reported.
In an interview with the outlet, Mr Trump said it was “inappropriate” for Britain to be dealing with the Democratic governor. Mr Trump, a Republican, also branded Mr Newsom “a loser”, saying “his state has gone to hell, and his environmental work is a disaster”.
Mr Newsom is an outspoken Trump critic and has publicly mulled over seeking the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028.
The energy agreement Mr Newsom inked with British Energy Secretary Ed Miliband on Feb 16 pledged cooperation on clean energy technologies such as offshore wind, and aims to expand access for British firms to California’s market.
“Donald Trump is on his knees for coal and Big Oil, selling out America’s future to China,” a Newsom spokesperson said in an e-mail. “Governor Newsom will continue to lead in his absence. Foreign leaders are rejecting Trump and choosing California’s vision for the future.”
A spokesperson for Britain’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said that it continued to work closely with the US government and that Feb 16’s agreement with California was “just one in a series signed at state level, including Florida and Texas, that will deliver jobs and growth in the UK”.
Mr Trump recently invited the oil and gas industry to nominate areas in Southern and Central California for a potential sale of offshore oil and gas leases as soon as 2026, a move Mr Newsom and environmental groups condemned as a threat to the state’s ecosystems.
In January, Mr Newsom was blocked from speaking inside the official US venue at the World Economic Forum
