California officials are disputing President Trump’s claim that the military entered the state to “turn on” water supplies that flow south toward Los Angeles.

The state Department of Water Resources, posted Tuesday on X, saying armed forces “did not enter California” as Mr. Trump suggested in a late-night online post.

“The federal government restarted federal water pumps after they were offline for maintenance for three days. State water supplies in Southern California remain plentiful,” the department posted.

The exchange was a strange twist in a spat between Mr. Trump and California officials over a dearth of water during devastating fires in Los Angeles that killed nearly 30 people and wiped out neighborhoods.

Mr. Trump says Gov. Gavin Newsom had prevented water flow from the north to protect endangered species such as smelt fish and simply needed to turn it on.

“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,” Mr. Trump posted late Monday on Truth Social. “The days of putting a Fake Environmental argument, over the PEOPLE, are OVER. Enjoy the water, California!!!”

California officials have pushed back on the notion there is a master spigot that allows water to flow to Los Angeles, saying fire hydrants ran dry during the fires because the infrastructure could not sustain high demand at once. They’ve also said the city gets its water from various sources beyond the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.

Earlier this month, Mr. Trump issued an order that requires U.S. agencies to override California policies when necessary to fight fires.

“Firefighters were unable to fight the blaze due to dry hydrants, empty reservoirs, and inadequate water infrastructure,” the order says. “It is in the Nation’s interest to ensure that California has what it needs to prevent and fight these fires and others in the future.”

• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.