Trump furious the UK spoke with Newsom

As the head of the fifth-largest economy in the world, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calf.) had a conversation with the leaders of the U.K. over climate measures they could coordinate on. Now, President Donald Trump is furious.

Last week, Trump revoked a landmark ruling that greenhouse gases endanger public health. While science might verify one thing, the Trump government will rule on belief.

Trump spent the weekend at Mar-a-Lago, where Politico asked him about the meeting between the U.K. and Newsom.

“The U.K.’s got enough trouble without getting involved with Gavin Newscum,” Trump told Politico, using his nickname for Newsom. “Gavin is a loser. Everything he’s touched turns to garbage. His state has gone to hell, and his environmental work is a disaster.”

Trump added that it was “inappropriate” for Newsom to strike such agreements and “inappropriate for them to be dealing with him.”

Moments after, Newsom signed a memorandum of understanding in London with those same U.K. leaders, saying that California would cooperate on clean energy technologies, which is a huge business in Europe and the U.K., in particular. Trump hates windmills. That could have come from his fight with officials in Scotland, where an offshore wind farm was being built near his Trump Turnberry golf club.

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband intends to coordinate with California and British energy firms to boost collaboration on clean energy research.

Trump has been in an ongoing conflict with many European leaders, so seeing Newsom travel the region getting a warm welcome appears to be triggering the president. Newsom has promised leaders that all of Trump's policies are "temporary." While Newsom hasn't announced whether he intends to run for president, there is considerable speculation about his candidacy in 2028.

The U.S. has withdrawn from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, but California remains committed to the goal of net-zero emissions.

“People are leaving,” Trump said of California. “The worst thing that the U.K. can do is get involved in Gavin. If they did to the U.K. what he did to California, this will not be a very successful venture.”

Trump appeared to believe there was a business deal between the two rather than an educational and research collaboration.

Trump then needled Newsom on the funding of the high-speed rail project between Los Angeles and San Francisco. The long-delayed project had federal funding on its way, until Trump killed it.

“How has he done with the railroad?” Trump asked. “How has he done with the various things he’s building?”