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President Donald Trump attempted to insult California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday, only to end up getting roasted himself, as his attempted put-down just opened the doors for Newsom and others to mock him on something he’s really, really sensitive about.
During a cabinet meeting, the president lashed out at Newsom, who has been mocking Trump by emulating the president’s unhinged and all-caps social media posting style. He attacked the governor’s job performance — and handed him the ammunition he needed.
“You have an incompetent governor in California. Gavin. I know him very well. He’s incompetent.” Trump griped to reporters. “He’s a nice guy, looks good. ‘Hi everybody. How ya doin’?′ He’s got some strange hand action going on. I don’t know what his problem is. It’s a little weird, to be honest. Something shaky going on.”
Trump: You have an incompetent governor in California. Gavin. I know him very well. He's a nice guy, good-looking. He has some hand action going on. There’s something going on there pic.twitter.com/PtxgLy5MrI
— Acyn (@Acyn) August 26, 2025Newsom was ready to pounce in response: “You really want to have the conversation about hands?”
Newsom’s roast post addressed two handy issues about Trump.
First, he’s been recently spotted with bruises on both of his hands that have prompted speculation of more serious issues, even as the White House claimed they were caused by frequent handshaking.
Also, Trump’s “hand action” insult about Newsom unintentionally reminded people of one of his biggest insecurities: The size of his hands — or lack thereof.
It started in 1988, when current “Vanity Fair” editor Graydon Carter referred to Trump as a “short-fingered vulgarian” in the now-defunct “Spy” magazine, ”just to drive him a little bit crazy.”
Trump was apparently so bothered by the insult that over the years, he has sent Carter photos of himself with his hand circled in gold Sharpie that Carter described as “a valiant effort to highlight the length of his fingers.”
Trump’s hand size was a big topic during the 2016 Republican primary after then-Florida Sen. Marco Rubio mentioned it during a debate and implied that other body parts could be small as well.
Not surprisingly, Trump’s offhand comment about Newsom opened the door for other social media snarkers to mock him and his appendages.
Hey @GavinNewsom, tell Trump the fate of this country is in his delicate little baby hands
— Liam Nissan™ (@theliamnissan) August 26, 2025Stop TheAssaulton Media
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The last thing Trump wants to talk about right now is hand action. Even if we completely ignore the black marks on both of his hands... It's hard to ignore the circle jerk that happened in the white house today.
— J.C.'s Thought Dump (@jcsthoughtdump) August 26, 2025🚨BREAKING: Trump calls Gavin Newsom “incompetent,” and mocks his “strange hand action,” and says something “shaky” is going on.
As JB Pritzker said, Trump projects his biggest weaknesses. The guy with the mystery bruise who slings gibberish questions Newsom’s stability. 🤡 pic.twitter.com/h74bIAtaO8
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