California Governor Gavin Newsom is using promotional products to troll President Donald Trump, and it seems to be working. The democratic politician and vocal critic of Trump has taken his war of words with the president into the arena that helped elect Trump to the highest office in the country: merch.

  • Newsom’s newest strategy to get under the skin of Trump and his supporters is to mimic Trump’s signature brand, most notably his red “Make America Great Again” hats, with his own branding messages.
  • The imitations feature hats, mugs, flags and even Bibles (referencing the controversial Bibles sold by Trump in 2024) with messages such as “Make America Gavin Again” or “Newsom Was Right About Everything.”


Austin, Texas-based distributor Bright Blue Ink administered the website selling the merch on behalf of Campaign For Democracy Committee. PPAI Media reached out for comment but hasn’t heard back.

A Promo Parody Showing Real Results?

Presumably, Newsom considers the merch more of a ploy to agitate Trump and poke fun at the Trump brand. However, the tactic, in its own way, is showing the success of the merch strategy that helped fuel Trump’s rise.


RELATED: From Rock Bottom To The White House: The Distributor Behind Trump’s Branding Empire

At this point, it’s well-established how Trump used the MAGA hat promo to help build a cult-of-personality brand that played a large part in separating him among other candidates. Promo has always been integral to election cycles, though perhaps never with such clear branding optics as with Trump deployed.

This particular promo news cycle stands out in that it seems to be in anticipation of a presidential election that is still three years away. Newsom is still a long way away from being presumed the democratic candidate for president in the 2028 presidential election, but he is using promotional products now to generate buzz.