President Donald Trump on Feb. 16 criticized a net-zero cooperation agreement between the UK and California, warning Britain against partnering with the state’s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom.
The agreement, signed by Newsom and British Energy Secretary Ed Miliband in London on Feb. 16, is intended to “accelerate the global race for clean power and tackle the climate and nature crisis” and to more closely link the UK’s renewable-energy sector to the Californian market, according to the UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.
Speaking to Politico on Feb. 16, Trump was sharply critical of Newsom and the deal.
“The UK’s got enough trouble without getting involved with [him],” Trump said, using a derogatory nickname for Newsom.
“His state has gone to hell, and his environmental work is a disaster.
“People are leaving [California]. The worst thing that the UK can do is get involved in Gavin. If they did to the UK what he did to California, this will not be a very successful venture.”
Newsom’s press team reacted to Trump’s critical remarks, suggesting in a Feb. 16 post on X that the president was shocked to learn that “leaders can work with people other than him.”
In a statement accompanying the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), Miliband said California would strengthen opportunities for British businesses and help secure inward investment. Newsom said that California would “continue showing the world“ how to ”turn innovation and ambition into climate action.”
Newsom, a potential 2028 Democratic presidential contender, has been touring Europe recently. Last week, he was at the Munich Security Conference; a few weeks prior, he was in Davos, Switzerland, at the World Economic Forum.
“I hope, if there’s nothing else I can communicate today: Donald Trump is temporary. He’ll be gone in three years,” Newsom told his international audience in Germany on Feb. 13.
Trump has been a strong advocate of increasing U.S. energy production, with particular emphasis on oil, gas, coal, and nuclear energy. The United States officially left the Paris Agreement in January. The agreement was a legally binding international treaty under which 195 signatory nations pledged to reduce carbon dioxide emissions as part of a climate action agenda.
Trump has said that he would like to see oil drilling restart in the UK.
“I strongly recommend to them that, in order to get their energy costs down, they stop with the costly and unsightly windmills,” Trump said in a statement on Truth Social on May 23, 2025.
He said that the UK should “incentivize modernized drilling in the North Sea, where large amounts of oil lay waiting to be taken” and that the country’s energy costs “would go way down—and fast.”
Trump described Aberdeen, Scotland, as the “hub” of a region with “a century of drilling left” and criticized the UK’s “old-fashioned tax system” for pushing away investors.
The UK and California have legally bound energy and climate targets.
California has a goal of reaching 100 percent “carbon neutrality” by 2045. The state still relies on traditional power plants to ensure the stability of its power grid.
The UK’s ruling Labour Party is committed to a phased transition in the North Sea and will not issue any new oil and gas or coal licenses.
This follows from the previous Conservative administration’s Climate Change Act 2008, which legally commits the UK to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
MOUs between U.S. states and foreign governments are not treaties and do not bind the federal government.
They are typically signed by governors and foreign ministers to signal cooperation and facilitate trade and investment.
Several U.S. states, red and blue, including Illinois, Florida, and New York, have signed similar agreements with foreign governments in recent years.
Alfred Bui, Kevin Stocklin, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
