Gavin Newsom's Choice Words For Trump & His Military Parade Are Sure To Hit Him Right In The Ego

Gavin Newsom and Donald Trump have had a fractious relationship for years. Lately, however, their disagreements have become increasingly more heated, with some contending their feud is more personal and all about Trump's ego. After expressing his anger over Trump's decision to get the National Guard involved in protests in Los Angeles, the Democratic California governor has moved on to throwing shade at an event close to Trump's heart: the June 14 military parade that's also on the president's birthday. During a June 12 news conference, Newsom asserted that this glitzy event was "weakness masquerading as strength" (via X). He later added, "That's about as small as it gets. How weak, how weak do you have to be to commandeer the military to fete you on your birthday in a vulgar display of weakness?"

Given their recent difficulties and opposing different political parties, it's not surprising that Newsom would insult Trump's parade. Even so, Newsom's harsh words will likely have an increased sting, since Trump's parade is already on shaky ground, due to a reported lack of interest, even among Republicans.

Although the parade was initially planned to recognize the Army's 250^th birthday, the president hasn't exactly offered a strong rebuttal about it being his party. "I view it for Flag Day, not necessarily my birthday. Somebody put it together," Trump explained to NBC News. "It's a very important day." Either way, the president has purportedly had this type of event on his wish list for years, so he might take it personally if the big day falls short of his expectations.

Beyond Gavin Newsom's scathing words about his military parade, Donald Trump is facing the possibility of numerous protests on June 14. Called "No Kings," the protest event organizers use language similar to Newsom, mocking the faux-aggressiveness of Trump's parade. While Trump has recently been refuting any assertions that he's a king, it's a little harder to ignore the time he was depicted wearing a crown in a White House social media post in February 2025.

Approximately 2,000 of these protests are planned in a diverse set of locations. Given their widespread geographic area, it's likely many of them will have better weather than the soggy conditions forecast in Washington, D.C., for Trump's military parade. While Trump contends that precipitation won't be an issue for the participants, he'll likely be looking for scapegoats if the crowd size is small. 

"There will be more people protesting across this country than showing up to his lame birthday parade," proclaimed one user on X. "It's just too bad the Army got roped into all of this." This comment about military participation seems particularly on the nose, since it appears these individuals may not have much choice about their involvement. "I guarantee you those 6,000 troops preparing to engage in this parade would rather be doing something else," Jason Crow, a Democratic congressman from Colorado and Army veteran, asserted to The Washington Post. Although he was referring to troops generally not enjoying being in parades ever, he also told the outlet, "Americans, in particular veterans, see this as a vanity endeavor for Donald Trump."