California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) took a sarcastic swipe at President Donald Trump on Sunday, accusing him of extending a “war on Christmas” fter a Fox Business host suggested Christmas tree farms should make way for AI power lines.
Newsom Revives ‘War On Christmas’ Rhetoric
“Donald Trump’s war on Christmas continues!” Newsom wrote on X, reposting a Fox segment that framed artificial trees and AI data centers as the future.
Fox Host Urges Viewers To ‘Buy A Fake Tree’
In the clip from Fox Business’ “The Big Money Show,” host Dagen McDowell backed a proposed transmission project that would cut through Gaver Farm, a Christmas tree farm in Mount Airy, Md., to serve AI data centers in northern Virginia.
“You know what? Buy a fake tree,” McDowell said after the farm’s owners objected to the plan, adding, “It’s a tree farm! Not growing food.” She argued that new power lines are needed for the “growth and development of business” as well as “grid stability” and lower energy costs, telling viewers, “There will be transmission lines that have to go through developments and farms. That’s the very nature of a growing economy. Like, everybody needs to get on board.”
The exchange drew groans from her co-hosts, with Brian Brenberg calling the remark “a dagger right in my heart.” McDowell shrugged off the criticism, adding, “What? I have a fake tree! I know I can’t afford the tree.”
Newsom’s “war on Christmas” jab echoed language he used on NBC’s “Meet the Press” in October, when he warned Trump’s tariffs would amount to a holiday-season “war on Christmas” for working families facing higher prices on toys and other imports.
AI Order Deepens Newsom–Trump Policy Clash
The governor’s latest shot comes days after Trump signed an executive order seeking to block state-level regulation of artificial intelligence and centralize AI oversight under a single federal framework, in part by threatening to withhold broadband funds from states with stricter AI rules.
Newsom has repeatedly criticized Trump’s AI and energy agenda as tilted toward tech and fossil-fuel interests at the expense of communities facing higher power bills and land-use battles.
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