Climate gives Newsom a world stage

The potential presidential contender grabs global spotlight as he positions California as a stand-in for U.S. at Brazil summit

- BY MELODY GUTIERREZ

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM called out President Trump at the COP30 climate summit in Belém, Brazil.

(Alessandro Falco)

BELÉM, Brazil - The expansive halls of the Amazon’s newly built climate summit hub echoed with the hum of air conditioners and the footsteps of delegates from around the world — scientists, diplomats, Indigenous leaders and energy executives, all converging for two frenetic weeks of negotiations.

Then Gov. Gavin Newsom rounded the corner, flanked by staff and security. They moved in tandem through the corridors on Tuesday as media swarmed and cellphone cameras rose into the air.

"Hero!" one woman shouted. "Stay safe — we need you," another attendee said. Others didn’t hide their confusion at who the man with slicked-back graying hair causing such a commotion was.

"I'm here because I don’t want the United States of America to be a footnote at this conference," Newsom said when he reached a packed news conference on his first day at the United Nations climate policy summit known as COP30.

In less than a year, the United States has shifted from rallying nations on combating climate change to rejecting the science altogether under President Trump.

Newsom has engineered his own evolution when coping with Trump — moving from sharp but reasoned criticism to name-calling and theatrical attacks on the president and his Republican allies. Newsom's approach adds fire to America’s political spectacle — part governance, part made-for-TV drama.

On Wednesday, Newsom’s trip collided with unwelcome headlines at home after his former chief of staff was arrested on federal charges alleging she siphoned $225,000 from a dormant campaign account and claimed business tax write-offs for $1 million in luxury handbags and private jet travel. Newsom had left COP30 before the indictment was revealed, which kept the focus during his whirlwind trip to Belém on his climate policies.