California Gov. Gavin Newsom says his family came surprisingly close to dialing the president himself — thanks to his 9-year-old son.
During a conversation with political commentator Jack Cocchiarella on the Dec. 7 episode of The Jack Cocchiarella Show, the 58-year-old governor shared that he has Donald Trump’s personal cell phone number. When Cocchiarella asked, “What was the last thing Trump said to you?” Newsom recalled the former president telling him, “Use this number any time.”
Newsom joked in response, “We can call him now, if you want,” adding that it’s “alarming” how likely it is that Trump would actually pick up.
When the host said he was “fully on board” with calling Trump during the interview, Newsom quickly backed off, replying, “Yeah, no, I can’t do that.”
He then revealed that his kids had recently tried to place that call on their own. “My kids, by the way, tried to do that the other day, and they weren’t even kidding around,” he said.
Newsom shares four children — Montana, Hunter, Brooklynn and Dutch — with his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom.
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The governor explained that his children were originally trying to track down YouTuber MrBeast’s number — which he said he “strangely” does have — when their curiosity shifted to Trump’s contact information instead.
“I’m like, ‘Oh God.’ And I literally find — he’s 9 years old — and he was literally pushing” buttons on the phone to call Trump, Newsom said of his son. “There’s a missed phone call to Trump from Dutch, my little guy. Anyway, that’s another conversation.”
Dutch has popped up in his father’s public life before: he famously wandered onstage during Newsom’s inaugural address in 2019 while the governor was speaking to supporters.
Despite having Trump’s cell number, Newsom and the president have a tense political relationship. The California governor is a frequent critic of Trump and his policies and often goes after him on social media.
Recently, Newsom mocked Trump by posting his own “doctor’s note,” jokingly signed by “Dr. Dolittle, Physician to the Governor, California Department of Peak Excellence,” after Trump released the results of an MRI he underwent in October.
Newsom also regularly imitates Trump’s online persona, using aggressive, all-caps posts to fire back at the president on various issues.
There is, however, a more personal thread connecting Newsom to the MAGA world: his ex-wife Kimberly Guilfoyle was engaged to Donald Trump Jr. before their breakup in 2024.
In April, The Hollywood Reporter noted that sources said Guilfoyle helped Newsom land a series of interviews with right-wing figures for his This Is Gavin Newsom podcast.
Although Newsom has long been a Democrat, starting with his rise in San Francisco politics in the 1990s, he has described the podcast as a way to engage with voices across the political spectrum on “the most pressing issues of the day.”
Newsom is widely rumored to be eyeing a potential 2028 presidential bid. A recent survey from the Public Policy Institute of California found that his favorability among Californians rose significantly about a year after Trump returned to the White House, according to Politico.
