Topline
President-elect Donald Trump blamed his political nemesis California Gov. Gavin Newsom for the devastating Los Angeles County wildfires on Wednesday, claiming Newsom rejected what the governor’s office said was a non-existent “water restoration declaration” Trump suggested could have helped prevent the fires.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a press conference in Oakland, California, on December … [+]
Anadolu via Getty ImagesKey Facts
Trump said Newsom refused to approve a “water restoration declaration” that “would have allowed millions of gallons of water . . . to flow daily into many parts of California” to instead “protect an essentially worthless fish called a smelt,” he wrote on Truth Social.
Newsom’s office called Trump’s claim “pure fiction” in a tweet that said “there is no such document as the water restoration declaration,” adding that Newsom “is focused on protecting people, not playing politics, and making sure firefighters have all the resources they need.”
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 also blasted Newsom “and his Los Angeles crew” for having “contained exactly ZERO percent of the fire.”
Trump, for years, has argued that California 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.
There’s no evidence that sending more water to farmers would help prevent wildfires as most of the fires do not occur on farmland and the three major fires burning in Los Angeles now are attributed to drought and wind conditions.
Chief Critic
Trump “just admitted he will block emergency disaster funds to settle political vendettas,” Newsom tweeted in September, in response to Trump’s threat.
Key Background
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. Newsom declared a state of emergency Tuesday and warned of a “highly dangerous windstorm” expected Wednesday that would create “extreme fire risk.”
Tangent
During his 2016 campaign, Trump 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.
Further Reading
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)
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