California Governor Gavin Newsom has once again taken aim at President Donald Trump, this time dubbing him “Dozy Don” after the president appeared to close his eyes during a meeting of the Board of Peace in Washington, D.C. on Thursday.
The Board of Peace event, which marked its first meeting, saw Trump announce that member nations had pledged $7bn towards a Gaza reconstruction fund, with the US contributing a further $10bn. However, as the proceedings continued, social media users accused the president of appearing to fall asleep or seem tired.
Newsom’s press office shared a brief clip showing Trump with his eyes apparently closed during an official’s speech, captioning it: “That’s not a still photo of Dozy Don. He’s really just asleep.” Former Republican congressman Adam Kinzinger also commented on X, writing: “Poor low energy Donald. He’s tuckered out.”
The Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump Republican group, posted a still image of Trump with closed eyes, labelling it “Bored of Peace”. The White House defended the president, with spokesperson Anna Kelly describing him as “the sharpest, most accessible, and energetic president in American history” and accusing The Independent of pushing “baseless conspiracy theories”.
Newsom, widely seen as a front-runner for the 2028 Democratic nomination, has frequently used social media to criticise Trump, often mimicking his all-caps posting style. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos last month, Newsom said: “This is not normal, it’s a deviation of normalcy. We’ve got to call it out. So I put a mirror up to Trump and Trumpism – in all caps.”
