According to a new report published by the International Monetary Fund, California emerged as the fourth-largest economy in the world, taking over Japan this year. California's GDP, which reached $4.10 trillion (£3.0 trillion) in the past year, has crossed over Japan's $4.01 trillion GDP. This puts California behind Germany, China, and the United States on the global economic scoreboard.

Hailing California's new milestone, Governor Gavin Newsom in a post on X wrote, "Our growth rate last year outpaced the US, China and Germany. Our state population is increasing. California isn’t just keeping pace with the world…we’re setting the pace.”

The new statistics come as Mr Newsom tries to position himself as a future Democrat nominee for the presidency. He launched his new podcast, This is Gavin Newsom. He will be engaging audiences and addressing individual concerns of the Conservatives and Trump-aligned activists. 

In the first episode, he spoke with Charlie Kirk, a 31-year-old pro-Trump commentator. Kirk balled Democrats up on disconnect from the people on transgender inclusion in sports. Newsom said, "I think it’s an issue of fairness. I completely agree with you on that. It is an issue of fairness, it’s deeply unfair. We’ve got to own that. We’ve got to acknowledge it.".

The 57-year-old has positioned himself as a direct competitor with President Donald Trump over trade policy. California's governor filed a lawsuit against the president over the authority to implement oppressive tariffs, even campaigning leaders around the world to seek bilateral trade agreements different from the USA with California.

“While we celebrate this success, we recognise that our progress is threatened by the reckless tariff policies of the current federal administration,” Mr Newsom said. “California’s economy powers the nation, and it must be protected,” he added.

Currently, President Trump has imposed a 10 per cent tariff on most imports in the nation, which was scaled back after his initial “Liberation Day” levies.

“The effect of tariffs announced on April 2 and associated uncertainty offset the expected strengthening of private consumption with above-inflation wage growth boosting household disposable income,” the IMF’s World Economic Outlook report said.

Overall data show California’s GDP stands behind the US at $29.18 trillion, China at $18.74 trillion, and Germany at $4.65 trillion.