In his absence Donald Trump from COP30 in Brazil, his main opponent, the Democratic governor of California Gavin Newsom, who took the opportunity to take aim at the climate skeptic US President.
“Donald Trump persists in his stupid stance,” said Mr Gavin Newsom on Tuesday (11.11.2025) from Belem, Brazil, referring to the US President’s decision to withdraw, for a second time, from the Paris climate agreement when he returned to the White House in January.
What JD Vance and Donald Trump are doing — playing politics with food assistance for the poor — isn’t just wrong, it is the antithesis of what Jesus preached. pic.twitter.com/PdJ4uuaPXT
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) November 9, 2025
According to the governor, fierce critic of Trump and one of the most serious candidates for the 2028 presidential electionunder a Democratic President the US would rejoin the Paris agreement “without hesitation,” as he answered a question from AFP during a visit to the Brazilian city.
“It is a moral commitment, an economic imperative, both at the same time,” continued the governor from the bio-economy center of Belem, flanked by the governor of the Brazilian state of Pará, where Newsom sampled Amazonian culinary delights, acai juice and cupuasu, a local fruit.
This morning, @CAGovernor Gavin Newsom arrived in Belém for #COP30 — touring cutting-edge climate tech and local efforts that are creating jobs and cutting pollution. pic.twitter.com/5RfqZbSHSk
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) November 11, 2025
A negative first
For the first time here in the COP’s 30 years, the US has not sent a delegation.
But many American officials are coming to Belem to represent the country, including the governor of California and his Democratic counterpart from New Mexico, Michelle Luhan Grisham.
The Trump Administration’s lack of duty, responsibility, or leadership to address the climate crisis is an abomination and a disgrace.
California remains a stable and reliable partner in low-carbon, green growth. pic.twitter.com/LLuriqLyBS
— Governor Gavin Newsom (@CAgovernor) November 11, 2025
“We are a stable and reliable partner”, he emphasized Newsomwhich would be head of the fourth economic power in the world if California were an independent countryat the forefront of the green transition, as it would be a $4.1 trillion economy, now 2/3 powered by clean energy.
“I’m here in the absence of leadership from Donald Trump.”
Governor of California Gavin Newsom has told Sky News that he attended the COP30 summit in Brazil to show up for his country and showcase California. https://t.co/h2xATyIQlT pic.twitter.com/kq9ja71qkk
— Sky News (@SkyNews) November 11, 2025
Oil exploitation
The President of the USA, who made the focus of his second term the unrestrained oil exploitationannounced the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris accord immediately after returning to the White House in January, as he had done in his first term, which will be effective from January 2026.
Donald Trump called climate change the “biggest hoax in history” from the floor of the UN General Assembly in September.
But US states can, if they wish, continue to move forward under the Paris accord, according to Saba Patel, executive director of Climate Groupan international organization that works closely with regional governments on the climate issue, interviewed by AFP.
The New Mexico governor presides over a state that is a major producer of fossil fuels, but she has pushed for the development of renewable energy and the reduction of methane emissions from the oil and gas sector.
A recent analysis by the University of Maryland’s Center for Global Sustainability concluded that if states and cities mobilized, and if a pro-climate President were elected in 2028, US emissions could drop just over 50% by 2035 compared to the 2005 peak.