California Gov. Gavin Newsom has been one of the most vocal critics of President Donald Trump since his return to office last year. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent argues it’s a sign of Newsom’s weakness.

“I think Gavin Newsom may be cracking up, some of these things he’s saying. I think he may be in over his hairdo,” Bessent said in an interview Thursday with POLITICO’s Dasha Burns for “The Conversation.”

Trump’s top economic adviser said that Newsom, a potential 2028 presidential candidate and longstanding Trump foe, has a “brain the size of a walnut” and that he knows “less about economics than” former Vice President Kamala Harris, which he clarified is “a terrible place to be in.”

The attacks are the latest in a simmering feud between Trump and Newsom, which escalated over the course of the week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Newsom was scheduled to speak at USA House on Wednesday as part of the conference, but his appearance was cancelled at the last minute. Newsom blamed the Trump administration, but an organizer said they decided to focus on programming with business leaders.

At Davos, Newsom met with world leaders, as did Bessent and Trump.

Upon arriving, Newsom urged European leaders not to cave to Trump’s demands over a wide-range of foreign policy issues. In a panel at the conference, the California governor brandished a pair of kneepads bearing Trump’s signature to mock world leaders he feels have been overly accommodating of the president.

Bessent dismissed the “strange things” Newsom has said to attack Trump, including the knee pad stunt and a comment in which Newsom analogized Trump to a dinosaur.

“To say strange things like President Trump is a tyrannosaurus rex, what the hell does that mean? I can say Gavin Newsom is a brontosaurus with a brain the size of a walnut,” Bessent said. “And, if you brought the knee pads, maybe that was for his meeting with Alex Soros.”

Bessent also defended the Trump administration from criticisms that they’re out of touch with the economic concerns of Americans. During a panel in Davos, Bessent said the administration wants to protect the investments of “mom and pop” retirees who may have purchased “5, 10, 12 homes.”

In his defense, Bessent took another opportunity to swipe at Newsom, who he labeled “Patrick Bateman meets Sparkle Beach Ken” during a speech earlier at the conference.

“I think it was a Dem governor, Newsom, who made the comment of being out of touch. What does he know? Like, his father worked for the Getty family,” Bessent said. “I actually think he knows less about economics than Kamala Harris, which is a terrible place to be in.”

The full interview with Bessent will air on „The Conversation.”

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