President-elect Donald Trump has directly blamed the governor of California for the unprecedented wildfires raging in some of the swankiest neighborhoods in Los Angeles.
The Republican sharply criticized Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom as four fires, including the Palisades fire, swept through Los Angeles County, killing at least two people.
Trump accused Newsom of prioritizing “worthless” fish instead of letting more water flow to Southern California.
“Governor Gavin Newscombe refused to sign the Water Restoration declaration submitted to him that would have allowed millions of gallons of excess rain and snowmelt water from the north to flow daily into many parts of California, including areas that are currently burning in an almost apocalyptic fashion,” Trump wrote Wednesday morning on his Truth Social platform.
“He wanted to protect an essentially worthless fish called smelt by reducing the amount of water (but it didn’t work!). But they don’t care about the people of California.”
Trump claimed that the people of California are now paying the “ultimate price” for decisions the California governor made during his first term in the White House.
Trump wrote, “I will ask this incompetent governor to let beautiful, clean, fresh water flow into California!” He should be held accountable.”
“The worst thing is, the fire hydrants are out of water, the firefighting planes are out of water. What a disaster!”
Trump appeared to be referring to a presidential ban he signed in February 2020 to divert water from northern California to farmland areas in the southern and central parts of the state.
On the day of Trump’s announcement, Newsom vetoed the measure, calling it “a harmful attack on our state’s critical ecosystem and environment.”
Newsome said at the time, “We will file a legal action in the coming days challenging a federal biological view to protect endangered fish species from extinction.”
On Wednesday, Newsom’s communications director Izzy Gardon responded to Trump’s social media posts, saying “our focus is on protecting lives and putting out fires, not playing politics.”
Garden told Fox News: “There is no such thing as a water restoration manifesto, it’s a fiction. The governor’s focus is on protecting people, not playing politics, and making sure firefighters have all the resources they need.”
Newsom declared a state of emergency on Tuesday and on Wednesday canceled a trip to Washington, D.C., to attend a memorial service for former President Jimmy Carter.
The Palisades Fire, the Eaton Fire near Altadena and Pasadena, and the smaller Hearst Fire and Woolsey Fire have forced the evacuation of more than 70,000 residents.
Newsom said he intends to lobby officials for more federal funding before Democratic President Joe Biden leaves the White House.
“Gavin Newsom has arrived, ready to take a photo and watch his state burn to the ground,” TikTok’s Libs wrote on the X (formerly Twitter) account.
Trump repeatedly criticized Newsom during his first term for his handling of the California wildfires. In January 2019, Trump threatened to withhold federal funding from California if the state did not reform its forest management Service.
On Wednesday afternoon, Trump also took a swipe at Biden, writing on the Truth Social: “There is no water in the fire hydrants and no money for FEMA.” That’s what Joe Biden left me. Thanks, Joe!”