'Have A Backbone': Newsom Urges World Leaders To Stand Up To Trump

California Gov. Gavin Newsom slammed leaders around the world as "pathetic" for not standing up to U.S. president Donald Trump.

The news comes after Trumps invasion of Venezuela and as he steps up threats in recent days to seize Greenland and impose tariffs on countries that stand in his way.

“I can’t take this complicity of people rolling over," the governor told reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. "I should have brought a bunch of knee pads for all the world leaders."

Over the weekend, Norway's prime minister Jonas Gahr Støre pleaded for a peaceful way forward in a text message to Trump. However, Trump wasn't receptive.

“Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace," he wrote. “The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland.”

The White House confirmed to the Associated Press that the message is authentic.

"I mean handing out crowns, the Nobel prizes that are being given away. It’s just pathetic. And I hope people understand how pathetic they look on the world stage,” Newsom said.

“Trump is a T-Rex," the governor said. "You mate with him or he devours you, one or the other, and you need to stand up to it.”

He urged Europeans to “stay tall and united.”

On Monday, Trump said he was no longer interested “purely” in pursuing peace after failing to win the Nobel Peace Prize. The award ultimately went to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, who last week presented her medal to Trump. The Nobel committee later clarified that while the physical medal can be transferred, the honor itself cannot.

Meanwhile, European leaders are racing to craft a response aimed at easing tensions as Trump escalates his own combative language.

Overnight, the U.S. president said he spoke with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and agreed to meet in Davos with key stakeholders regarding Greenland. He also published what he said was a text message from French President Emmanuel Macron, circulated a map of the Western Hemisphere depicting Canada — and Venezuela — as part of the United States, and criticized Britain for relinquishing a military base in the Indian Ocean.

In a separate Truth Social post, Trump shared a message he attributed to Rutte that read: “Mr. President, dear Donald – what you accomplished in Syria today is incredible. I will use my media engagements in Davos to highlight your work there, in Gaza, and in Ukraine. I am committed to finding a way forward on Greenland. Can’t wait to see you. Yours, Mark.”

Last year, Gov. Newsom confirmed that he is considering a presidential run in 2028. He has been one of Trump's loudest critics on the national stage.

“I represent the most un-Trump state in America. He’s been at war with my state. And what he responds to is strength, not weakness. Period. Strength.

Appearing to take Newsom's advice, French President Emmanuel Macron, calling out Trump's threats to disrupt trade.

“We do prefer respect to bullies, we do prefer science to politicism, and we do prefer rule of law to brutality,” he said.