On Wednesday, President-elect Donald Trump accused California Governor Gavin Newsom and President Joe Biden of being responsible for the terrible flames that are raging in Los Angeles, forcing tens of thousands of people to abandon their homes and killing at least two people.
Trump wrote in one of several posts on his social media platform, Truth Social, “Governor Gavin Newscum refused to sign the water restoration declaration put before him that would have allowed millions of gallons of water, from excess rain and snow melt from the North, to flow daily into many parts of California, including the areas that are currently burning in a virtually apocalyptic way.”
He went on to say that Newsom “didn’t care about the people of California, but wanted to protect an essentially worthless fish called a smelt, by giving it less water (it didn’t work!).” The ultimate cost is now being incurred. I’m going to insist that this inept governor let gorgeous, pure, and fresh water flow into California! He bears responsibility for this. In addition, there is no water for fire hydrants or firefighting aircraft. A real catastrophe!
Izzy Gardon, Newsom’s Director of Communications, responded to Trump’s post with a statement accusing the president-elect of “playing politics” as the wildfires in southern California continued to cause devastation.
“The water restoration statement is a work of pure fiction that does not exist. “The governor is concerned with ensuring firefighters have all the resources they require, protecting people, and not getting involved in politics,” Gardon stated.
A state of emergency was proclaimed by Newsom on Tuesday due to the fires, which as of Wednesday afternoon had left about 400,000 people without electricity. Biden cleared the path for federal aid in the area on Wednesday by declaring a major disaster.
By bringing up a “water restoration declaration,” Trump seems to have been alluding to a presidential decree he signed in early 2020 that aimed to redirect water from Northern California to California’s central and southern farms.
“You will receive a lot of water, a lot of dam, and a lot of everything else. At a ceremony in 2020 to announce the memo in California, Trump stated, “You’ll be able to farm your land, and you’ll be able to do things you never thought possible.”
Both Newsom and Xavier Becerra, the attorney general of California at the time, condemned Trump’s action on the day of his announcement, describing it as a “harmful attack on our state’s critical ecosystems and environment.”
According to Newsom, In order to save critically endangered fish species that are in danger of becoming extinct, we will dispute the federal biological opinions in court in the next few days.
In addition to canceling a plan put forth by former Governor Jerry Brown that would have created two tunnels to channel water from the northern regions of the state to the southern ones, Newsom earlier that year pledged to work toward doubling California’s salmon population by 2050.
“Our goal continues to be to realize enforceable voluntary agreements that provide the best immediate protection for delta species, reliable and safe drinking water, and dependable water sources for our farmers for economic prosperity,” Newsom said in a statement on the day of Trump’s 2020 event, highlighting his objective of striking a balance between the need to move water and the need to preserve endangered species.
Trump has threatened to deny federal disaster help for California’s wildfires on multiple occasions while in office and as recently as October.
We will shove it down his throat and take care of your water problem. At an appearance in Coachella, California, on October 12, Trump stated, “And we’ll say, Gavin, if you don’t do it, we’re not giving you any of that fire money that we send you all the time for all the fire, forest fires.”
Trump made another post about the wildfires later on Wednesday, criticizing Biden this time.
There is no money in FEMA and no water in the fire hydrants. JOE BIDEN IS LEAVING ME WITH THIS. JOE, THANK YOU! Shortly after Biden joined Newsom and Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif, at a briefing held in Santa Monica by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the president-elect wrote.
“Let this serve, and be emblematic, of the gross incompetence and mismanagement of the Biden/Newscum Duo,” Trump said in a subsequent post. I can’t wait for January 20th!
A request for comment on Trump’s statements was not immediately answered by the White House.
During the last months of the 2024 presidential campaign and following a number of devastating hurricanes in the southern states, Trump and his supporters disseminated conspiracy theories against FEMA.
The misrepresentation seemed to confuse two FEMA funds: one for disaster assistance, which is legally prohibited from being used for other purposes, and another for Customs and Border Protection, which FEMA was directed to distribute to communities that experienced a migration surge.
FEMA stated on its website at the time that no funds were being taken away from disaster response requirements. The catastrophe Relief Fund, a fund specifically designated for catastrophe initiatives, provides funding for FEMA’s disaster response activities and individual aid.
Additionally, it seems that the president-elect was alluding to fire hydrants that ran out of fuel early on Wednesday morning in Los Angeles.
Water pressure in mountainous portions of the city dropped because so much water was being drawn from tanks in lower-altitude areas, according to city utility authorities, who blamed the problem on the quantity of water firemen need in both low- and high-altitude parts of the city.
To ensure they had constant access to water until water pumps in high-elevation locations were recharged, firefighters turned to employing water tenders.
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