Newsom says ‘Trump in retreat’ after firing Homeland Security chief Noem

Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom of California argues that Pres Donald TrumpThe dismissal of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is the latest sign of the Republican president’s decline.

“Donald Trump is in decline,” Newsom said Thursday evening in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the final stop on his national book tour. “Today is a perfect example – the first sacking of a senior member of the Cabinet.”

the Noem’s shootinga one-time MAGA rock star and a close ally of the president who has been guiding Trump’s core policy of mass deportations as part of the White House’s crackdown on illegal immigration, has rocked the nation’s capital and the political world.

Trump’s move to fire Noem from the top job at the Department of Homeland Security came amid growing criticism of her performance, not only from Democrats, but also among some Republicans and members of Trump’s political circle.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is sworn in before testifying during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (Manuel Pals Sinita/AP Photo)

Newsom, a staunch Trump critic who is likely to seek the presidency in 2028, hours ago took to social media after news broke about Noem to write, “Bye girl!”

At his stop in New Hampshire, Newsom claimed that “the dark heart of the administration is not Kristi Noem; Stephen MillerHe is a longtime deputy White House chief of staff and senior Trump adviser dating back to the president’s first run for the White House in 2016.

There’s one thing Democrats and Republicans agree on — firing Noem

“Noem’s fingerprints were all over it, but he was Stephen Miller’s lead, and he had to be next.” Newsom saidHe also pointed to Trump’s 2025 move to send National Guard troops to California in response to immigration protests.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for a response to Newsom’s comments but had not received a response by the time this story was published.

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller listens during a meeting with President Donald Trump and oil company executives in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on January 9, 2026. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

Newsom’s latest outing on his book tour came two days after Democratic turnout in Tuesday’s Texas primary rose to record levels, a promising sign for the party’s run out of power ahead of this year’s midterm elections, when the GOP will defend its narrow majorities in the House and Senate.

Discussing this week’s primaries, Newsom asserted that “Donald Trump is the voting leader of the Democratic Party.”

Newsom Predicts Trump Is ‘Toast,’ Will Drag GOP into Midterm Survey

Newsom’s stop in New Hampshire, the state that has traditionally held the first presidential primary in the race for the White House for a century, sparked further speculation about the blue-state California governor’s candidacy in the 2028 elections.

The tour also recently took Newsom to South Carolina, stopping in Nevada on Wednesday. Both states, along with New Hampshire, hold crucial early-voting presidential primaries on the Democratic calendar, and all three states are vying for the top spot on the party’s 2028 nominating schedule.

California Governor Gavin Newsom, considered a potential 2028 presidential contender, talks about his new memoir, “A Young Man in a Hurry,” during a book tour event in the state that traditionally holds the nation’s first presidential primary every four years, at the Music Hall in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. (Brian Snyder/Reuters)

Newsom’s book tour for his memoir, “A Young Man in a Hurry,” was not without controversy.

At a recent writing event in Los Angeles, Newsom sparked controversy by likening Israel to an “apartheid state.”

He clarified on Thursday that he was referring to a column written by well-known political commentator and author Tom Friedman, amid ongoing US and Israeli attacks on Iran. The week-long strikes killed several senior Iranian leaders, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

“Tom used that word apartheid as it relates to the direction that Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu, a Trump ally, is moving in, especially regarding the annexation of the West Bank,” Newsom said.

Newsom suggests that Israel is an “apartheid state” and that Netanyahu influenced Trump’s actions in Iran

The governor said: “I am very angry about this war with all due respect, not because I am angry about the death of the Supreme Leader, quite the opposite. I am not naive about the last 37 years of his rule, that is, 47 years since the 1979 revolution.”

But Newsom, taking aim at Trump, added: “I’m also aware that you have a president who remains unclear and unable to give us the rationale for, why, why? Now, what’s the endgame?”

Newsom’s memoir chronicles his life from his childhood, where he dealt with dyslexia, to his current role as governor of California and a high-ranking national politician.

At a March book tour in Atlanta, many on the right criticized Newsom’s statements about his low SAT scores and difficulty reading speeches as racially insensitive toward black people.

The governor responded by calling the criticism “MAGA-created rage.”

Buttigieg, Newsom, AOC rank in top three in new 2028 poll in key presidential primary state

Newsom is the latest potential 2028 Democratic presidential contender to stop by New Hampshire.

Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, center, and Rep. Chris Pappas of New Hampshire, the Democratic Senate candidate, campaign in Manchester, New Hampshire, February 19, 2026. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)

Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who narrowly finished second to Sen. Bernie Sanders in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary in New Hampshire, took a three-day tour through the state in February.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, who made a stop in New Hampshire in the fall of 2025, returns this weekend. Rep. Ro Khanna of California, another potential White House contender, also just returned to the Granite State.

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The latest poll of the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination race in the nation’s premier presidential primary state, conducted by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center in February, showed Buttigieg with 20% support, while Newsom and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York had 15%.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for 2024, and Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona each received 10%, with all survey participants scoring in the single digits.

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