Donald Trump’s new Rose Garden Club has been mocked by California Governor Gavin Newsom.
On Friday, September 5, the president announced that the renovated White House Rose Garden would be used as a gathering space.
“We call it the Rose Garden Club. And it’s a club for senators, for congresspeople, and for people in Washington, and frankly, people that can bring peace and success to our country,” Trump told House Republicans and Senators during a dinner.
Highlights
- Governor Newsom mocked Trump’s new Rose Garden Club, dubbing it the ‘Predator Patio.’
- Trump renovated the White House Rose Garden, paving parts of the lawn to help women in heels, and turned it into a political gathering space.
- Newsom’s press office mocked GOP lawmakers for celebrating at the garden after healthcare cuts and food stamp slashes.
- Newsom’s social media tactics mirror Trump’s style, aimed at exposing what he calls the absurdity and grift of Trump’s presidency.
Gavin Newsom mocked the new Rose Garden Club
Image credits: The White House
Parts of the historic lawn were paved earlier this year after Trump ordered a renovation, saying women wearing high heels were struggling with the soft ground.
Trump’s plans for the renovated space have been mocked by Newsom, who has recently been trolling the president by posting in his signature style on social media.
“Our economy is in a downward spiral, but don’t worry — the @GOP are spending their time cheersing Diet Cokes at a new, exclusive ‘club,’” Newsom wrote on his personal account.
Newsom’s press office, which has been copying Trump’s social media playbook, went even further and gave the club a new nickname — “Predator Patio.”
“After ripping health care from 17 million Americans and slashing food stamps for kids, we’re glad Mike ‘Marie Antoinette’ Johnson and his boy friends had time to toast the grand opening of the Predator Patio,” Newsom’s press office said on X.
In a separate post, the account also shared an image with a ‘closing soon’ sign and the date Trump’s presidency will end, January 20, 2029.
Image credits: The White House
“Welcome to Predator Patio! Admission? Just prove you’re on the Epstein List!” a third post read, while another shared a mockup image of press secretary Karoline Leavitt as Effie Trinket from the Hunger Games.
“INTRODUCING PREDATOR PATIO. MAY THE ODDS BE EVER IN YOUR FAVOR,” Newsom’s team captioned the post.
Newsom, seen as a Democratic contender for the next presidential election, told reporters at a press conference last month that his new social media strategy was aimed at making people reflect on Trump.
Newsom and Trump have repeatedly clashed in recent months
Image credits: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
“We’re putting a mirror up to the lunacy that is Trump’s tweets, and his grift, the madness that is someone that would dress up as the pope and tweet that out or put his face up there on Mount Rushmore, or in a Superman costume,” he said.
“So I do think it’s important to put that mirror, that lens, back and have everyone reflect on it and say, ‘Have we accepted this as normal?’ Why aren’t we calling this out more clearly?”
The strategy seems to be working so far.
A Washington Post analysis published Monday found that Newsom has been discussed online by influencers on both sides of the political spectrum more than any other presidential hopeful.
According to a Post review of Trump’s social media and emails, Trump has mentioned Newsom 41 times since his inauguration, more than any other 2028 contender.
Newsom has invoked Trump’s ire on several occasions, clashing publicly with the president when he deployed the National Guard and Marines to California earlier this year.
Trump deployed troops in response to anti-ICE protests across the state, sparked by agents raiding workplaces in and around Los Angeles.
Newsom and other local officials claimed Trump was inflaming tensions on purpose, with Newsom launching a legal challenge over the deployment.
Last week, a federal judge ruled that Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to the state was illegal.
But the ruling has been put on hold until September 12 and the administration has launched an appeal.
Newsom is also at the center of a Democratic pushback against Republican efforts to redraw congressional maps in their favor.
Newsom is seen as a presidential contender for 2028
Image credits: The White House
In response to GOP House members in Texas passing a bill to redraw map lines, Newsom recently put a planned remapping of California on the ballot for November this year.
The California legislation, called Proposal 50, would allow the redrawn districts to be in place for the 2026, 2028 and 2030 House elections.
After those elections, the power would then revert to the independent redistricting commission.
Voters will decide whether or not to pass Newsom's proposal on November 4.