California Gov. Gavin Newsom has spent the past week flooding social-media platforms with memes, all-caps statements and other Trump-style barbs aimed at the president, signaling a willingness to confront Donald Trump on his preferred digital turf as early positioning for the 2028 presidential race intensifies. Trump answered the taunts on 22 Aug. during an Oval Office news conference, labeling Newsom “an incompetent guy with a good line of bullsh*t” and accusing the governor of letting crime and homelessness overwhelm Los Angeles. The president said he would “save California,” urging city and state leaders to “clean up” the nation’s second-largest metropolis. Strategists see the exchange as a preview of the next campaign cycle. A University of California Irvine-OC survey taken after an earlier National Guard dispute showed Newsom’s statewide job-approval climbing to 56%, from 38% in early June. A separate Politico/Citrin Center poll released this week placed him first among prospective 2028 Democratic contenders in California, with 25% support to former vice president Kamala Harris’s 19%. Republicans argue Newsom’s online theatrics mask what they describe as policy failures in the world’s fifth-largest economy, while some Democrats say a combative digital posture could resonate with voters drawn to Trump’s own pugilistic style. Whether the tactic boosts Newsom beyond his home state remains an open question, but the governor has made clear he intends to keep challenging Trump in the public, and increasingly virtual, arena.