Marijuana Moment: Newsom Declares That ‘Cannabis Is Now Legal’ After Trump Mistakenly Calls Him ‘President Of The United States’

2026-03-17T15:07:34Z

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) didn’t waste much time seizing on President Donald Trump’s latest slip-up, when he mistakenly called the Californian “president of the United States” during Oval Office remarks in which the incumbent otherwise disparaged the Democrat. Playing into the gaffe, Newsom said legalizing marijuana was among the “many big announcements” his White House was making.

Trump drew criticism on Monday when he said “a president should not have learning disabilities,” referring to Newsom’s much-anticipated run for the Democratic ticket in 2028 and the fact that the governor has been candid about his dyslexia, a learning disability that makes reading and spelling difficult.

Newsom, who has taken to taunting Trump by assuming the president’s bombastic writing style on X, responded with another all-caps post where he accepted the designation as U.S. president and listed a variety of administrative actions he’d be taking.

That included firing controversial figures in Trump’s White House, launching an investigation into the Trump administration, ending commercials for broadcasts of sporting events and reality TV shows and advancing a progressive policy agenda that involves cannabis reform.

“HEALTH CARE IS NOW FREE FOR ALL AMERICANS (NO MEASLES!) AND ALL MOMS GET FREE CHILDCARE SO WE CAN HAVE MORE BABIES!!! ALSO CANNABIS IS NOW LEGAL AND ABORTION IS BACK FOR WOMEN WHO WANT IT,” Newsom said. “THE COUNTRY IS NOW RUN BY SOMEONE WHO CAN ACTUALLY COMPLETE A SENTENCE. AMERICA IS NOW ‘HOT’ BECAUSE YOU HAVE A DYSLEXIC PRESIDENT INSTEAD OF A BRAIN-DEAD ONE. BIG UPGRADE!!!”

NOW THAT I, GAVIN C. NEWSOM, AM OFFICIALLY PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (THANK YOU DONALD!), I HAVE MANY BIG ANNOUNCEMENTS TO MAKE! FIRST, EVERY TRUMP EXECUTIVE ORDER IS NULL AND VOID, STEPHEN MILLER AND EVERY TRUMP GOON IS FIRED, AND THE TRUMP CORRUPTION PROBE IS OFFICIALLY…

— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) March 17, 2026

After Marijuana Moment’s article about Newsom’s comments was published, it was shared by a “Newsom News” account, and that post was later quoted by the governor himself.

“ENJOY, AMERICA!” Newsom said.

ENJOY, AMERICA! https://t.co/ReKh2rOI0t

— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) March 17, 2026

The governor similarly called for marijuana legalization in a separate post mocking Trump during a federal government shutdown last year, pledging to enact the reform as “leader of the free world.”

Newsom was one of the first high-profile politicians to endorse legalization years before voters in his state moved forward with the reform.

Trump, for his part, signed an executive order in December calling on Attorney General Pam Bondi to expediently complete the process of moving marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substance Act (CSA), but that hasn’t happened yet—nor would that federally legalize cannabis.

Back in California, the governor last October vetoed a bill that would have allowed certain marijuana microbusinesses to ship medical cannabis products directly to patients via common carriers like FedEx and UPS, stating that the proposal “would be burdensome and overly complex to administer.”

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