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Gavin Newsom has told European leaders to “have a backbone” and start standing up to Donald Trump after his latest meltdown over Greenland.
The California governor hit out after the U.S. president threatened to impose tariffs on the U.K. and seven other European countries unless he takes control of the Arctic island.
While the European Union has hinted at retaliation, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday said he would not hit back with tariffs on American imports to Britain.
Despite that attempt to pacify the president, Trump accused the prime minister of “great stupidity” in handing over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.
But speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Newsom — an outspoken critic of Trump — said it was time for all of Europe to stand up to the president.
He told Sky News: “It’s time to buck up. It’s time to get serious and stop being complicit.
“It’s time to stand tall and firm and have a backbone. I’ve seen this in the United States, a supine Congress playing both sides — saying one thing in a text or tweet and another publicly.
“It’s time to have principles, it’s time to stand tall and strong. It’s time to stand united.
“I can’t take this complicity, people rolling over. I should have brought a bunch of knee pads for all the world leaders. I mean, handing out crowns, this is pathetic. Nobel prizes, they’re being given away. I mean, it’s just pathetic.
“I hope people understand how pathetic they look on the world stage, at least from an American perspective. It’s embarrassing.
“The Europeans should decide for themselves what to do, but one thing they can’t do is what they’ve been doing, and they’ve been played. This guy is playing folks for fools and it’s embarrassing.”
Newsom added: ”[Europeans] need to stand tall, stand firm, stand united. A year ago they should have had this conversation and they didn’t and now you’re paying the price.”
© 2026 Huff Post
Have a backbone and leave the USA, i mean California…………as a state.
Add New England to the list.
Neusom is absolutely right! It’s something we’ve been saying all along. Europe has a population as large as the USA and mafia land put together and a huge economy, yet it acts like an obscure third-world country. In other words, just like pathetic cowards with no means to counter either fascist countries.