‘I fear we will not have election in 2028’: California Governor Newsom’s warning about Trump

Flagging US President Donald Trump’s authoritarian streak, California Governor Gavin Newsom has said he is afraid there may not be an election at all in 2028.

Newsom said that Americans and Democrats need to wake up to the "code red" that they are facing under Trump’s regime.

“I fear that we will not have an election in 2028. I really mean that in the core of my soul. Unless we wake up to the code red of what’s happening in this country and we wake up soberly to how serious this moment is,” said Newsom in a conversation with broadcaster Stephen Colbert.

Gavin’s warning is not empty. Trump had told his supporters last year that they would never need to vote again in an election again if he would win the 2024 election.

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I fear that we will not have an election in 2028 -- I really mean that in the core of my soul -- unless we wake up to what's happening in this country. pic.twitter.com/BjPsmw2izX

— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) September 24, 2025

Newsom has emerged as the principal challenger of Trump in the Democratic Party that otherwise still appears to be struggling to craft a strategy to challenge him. Many see him as a favourite to be the party’s next presidential nominee to take on Trump’s anointed successor or Trump himself if he runs for a third term.

Trump and his far-right allies have also been treating Newsom as a primary rival. Trump has targeted California with the full force of the federal government, deploying US military and National Guard to the state’s cities.

2024 would be last US election, Trump told supporters

Newsom is not the first one to say that there may not be an election again in the United States. Trump told his supporters the same thing last year.

At an election rally last year, Trump told supporters they would never have to vote again in an election if they would elect him.

“Christians, get out and vote. Just this time. You won’t have to do it anymore, you know what? Four more years, it’ll be fixed, it’ll be fine, you won’t have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians,” said Trump at a rally in Florida in July 2024.

Trump has already said he would likely seek a third time in 2028, which is otherwise barred in the US Constitution. But there are concerns that as all branches of the US government —the Executive, Legislature, and Judiciary— are in his pocket, there may not be any way to prevent him from running for a third term in 2028 or to prevent him to just stay in the White House for life.

Newsom tears into Trump

Newsom said that California has been setting an example to stand up to Trump, filing as many as 41 lawsuits and pursuing a communication strategy that shows a mirror to Trump.

Newsom said, “What people appreciate is that we’re willing to fight and not only fight symbolically by having a little bit of fun but fight substantively. We have 41 lawsuits against this son of a b***h. We’re pushing back and we’re winning and we’re filling a void on a lot of issues.”

Newsom slammed Trump’s deployment of military domestically and dubbed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) “the largest private domestic army of its type [or] police force anywhere in the world”.

“He’ll have 30,000 people that increasingly appear to be swearing an oath of office to him, not the Constitution of the United States. Again, wake up to what’s going on in this country,” Newsom further said.