President-elect Donald Trump blamed his political nemesis California Gov. Gavin Newsom for the devastating Los Angeles County wildfires on Wednesday, reigniting his years-long criticism that California has mismanaged its water distribution system.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a press conference in Oakland, California, on December ... [+]
Trump said Newsom refused to approve a water management plan “that would have allowed millions of gallons of water . . . to flow daily into many parts of California” to “protect an essentially worthless fish called a smelt,” he wrote on Truth Social.
Referring to the governor as “Newscum,” Trump said “he is the blame for” the three major wildfires and promised he “will demand that this incompetent governor allow beautiful, clean, fresh water to FLOW INTO CALIFORNIA!”
Trump, for years, has argued that the state should divert more water from Northern California, where most of the state’s water comes from, to farmers in Southern California and the Central Valley—claiming it would moisten the ground and prevent fires—rather than sending a portion through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to preserve wildlife that live there, including smelt.
Trump revived the debate during his 2024 campaign and said in September he would withhold federal wildfire aid to California if elected unless Newsom agreed to transport more water to farmers: “if he doesn’t sign those papers, we won’t give him money to put out all his fires,” Trump said in September.
During his 2016 campaign, he used the groundwater debate in an appeal to California farmers, and during his presidency, his administration issued a rule reversing scientific findings incorporated in the Endangered Species Act that prioritizes protections for smelt over irrigation systems in times of drought, according to the New York Times.
The state of California sued the Trump administration over the rule, and the Biden administration sought to strengthen the protections Trump lifted in a new rule issued last month, Politico reported.
Trump has claimed that diverting water through the river delta to the Pacific Ocean has dried up California’s forests and fueled wildfires, though most of the state’s wildfires do not occur on the farmland Trump has argued should have access to the excess water, The Times noted. The wildfires in Los Angeles County are attributed to drier conditions in southern parts of the U.S., leading to drought conditions in Los Angeles, combined with strong winds that sparked the fires beginning Tuesday. Newsom declared a state of emergency Tuesday and warned of a “highly dangerous windstorm” expected Wednesday that would create “extreme fire risk.”
Trump “just admitted he will block emergency disaster funds to settle political vendettas,” Newsom tweeted in September, in response to Trump’s threat.
Three major wildfires have consumed more than 5,600 acres in Los Angeles County as of Wednesday, killing two, prompting power outages in hundreds of thousands of homes and evacuation orders for residents in the Palisades and along a portion of the Pacific Coast Highway. The Department of Forestry and Fire Protection reports 0% of the Palisades, Eaton and Hurst fires have been contained.
At Least 2 Dead As Major Wildfires Around Los Angeles Still Uncontained—Here’s What To Know (Forbes)
Palisades Wildfire Blazes Out Of Control In L.A. (Photos) (Forbes)