California Governor Newsom insinuates Trump has dementia; drags Musk's AI Grok into trolling POTUS

California Governor Gavin Newsom on Tuesday (Aug 26) implied in a post on X that US President Donald Trump may be suffering from dementia, and that too with receipts. This comes as the feud between the two men continues to get more feral every day and as Newsom's renewed the attack on POTUS. After Trump sent federal troops to Los Angeles without the Governor's permission, a move for which Newsom sued the president. In a satirical, yet pointed post clearly targeted at Trump, Newsom even dragged in Grok to stand witness. Here's what happened.

What did Newsom say about Trump and dementia?

It all started with Trump and what he said about 30 minutes into the cabinet meeting at the White House on Tuesday. Taking at Newsom or Governor "Newscum," as the POTUS likes to call him, Trump repeated claims that the federal government had to force California to "turn on the water" after the wildfires that devastated the US state earlier this year.

Re-posting a clip of Trump's ramblings, Newsom added a barb of his own: A screenshot of him asking Elon Musk's AI chatbot, "Do people with dementia repeat false things over and over again?". To this, Grok AI replied in the affirmative, reinforcing the point Newsom was trying to prove and said, "Yes, people with dementia can repeat false statements or beliefs, a behaviour often linked to memory impairments and cognitive changes."

"This can manifest as confabulation, where they create or repeat false memories to fill gaps in recollection, or perseveration, where they fixate on a particular idea or statement," added the chatbot.

What is the 'turn on the water' controversy?

Less than two weeks before his inauguration on 20 January 2025, Trump wrongly sought to blame Newsom and the California administration for water shortages and, in turn, exacerbated the wildfires in Los Angeles. He alleged that Newsom “refused to sign the water restoration declaration put before him that would have allowed millions of gallons of water,” to protect an “essentially worthless fish called a smelt”. However, the claim was fact-checked by AFP at the time, which reported that much of Los Angeles' water supply comes from the Colorado River, with agriculture being the primary consumer.

Subsequently, Trump claimed that the US military entered California and "turned on the water."

"The United States Military just entered the Great State of California and, under Emergency Powers, TURNED ON THE WATER flowing abundantly from the Pacific Northwest, and beyond. The days of putting a Fake Environmental argument, over the PEOPLE, are OVER. Enjoy the water, California!!!" said Trump on Truth social. This claim, which was fact-checked by the California Department of Water Resources which asserted that "the military did not enter California".