Gavin Newsom mocks Trump library’s gold statue, says it looks ‘awfully familiar’

WASHINGTON, DC: California Gov. Gavin Newsom couldn’t resist throwing shade at Donald Trump’s newly unveiled presidential library plans, especially a gleaming gold statue of the 47th president himself.

“The gold statue in Trump’s new library (of himself) looks awfully familiar to a few others from around the world,” Newsom’s official press office posted on X Tuesday morning, attaching side-by-side images comparing the Trump statue to larger-than-life monuments of leaders in China and North Korea.

The dig came just hours after Trump shared renderings of his proposed Miami skyscraper library and museum. 

The statue in question depicts Trump with his right fist raised, the same defiant pose he struck moments after surviving an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July 2024. It anchors a massive auditorium inside the library, according to the renderings released Monday.

Trump's towering Miami vision

Trump dropped the video and renderings on Truth Social, showing a 47-story waterfront skyscraper in downtown Miami, right next to the historic Freedom Tower.

The design, by Florida-based firm Bermello Ajamil & Partners, features a red, white and blue spire with “TRUMP” written in massive illuminated letters near the top, and a golden arch entrance featuring the presidential seal.

Inside, visitors will glide down a gold escalator modeled after the famous one in Trump Tower where the President launched his 2016 campaign. There’s a full-sized replica of the Oval Office, a ballroom echoing the one Trump is building for the White House East Wing, and even a display of the presidential 747 jet gifted by Qatar. 

The lobby and second floor will be filled with various aircraft, including what appears to be Air Force One.

Eric Trump said he poured his “heart and soul” into the project. "Over the past six months, I have poured my heart and soul into this project with my incredible team at [The Trump Organization],” he posted on X. “This landmark on the water in Miami, Florida will stand as a lasting testament to an amazing man, an amazing developer, and the greatest President our Nation has ever known.”

The library is slated for prime real estate along Biscayne Boulevard. A teaser video posted by the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library Foundation shows visitors streaming through the golden entrance, past the jet and into immersive exhibits celebrating “key moments” in Trump’s life.

Democrats demands transparency

Newsom’s office wasn’t the only one appalled by the situation. 

Congressional Democrats fired off letters demanding transparency on how the library is funded, pointing to more than $63 million that flowed into a now-dissolved Trump-related fund from media companies that settled lawsuits with him after the 2024 election. 

“Now it is unclear where this money has gone, exacerbating concerns about corruption that were apparent at the time of the settlement,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to companies that settled with Trump, such as Meta, X, ABC, and Paramount.

But presidential library nonprofits aren’t required to disclose donors, adding to the usual “pay-to-play” accusations.

That said, Trump notably shared the video of his proposed library on the same day Florida Gov Ron DeSantis renamed Palm Beach International Airport after him.