President-elect Donald Trump placed the blame for the devastating wildfires sweeping through the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles squarely on California Governor Gavin Newsom. According to Trump, Newsom chose to prioritize the protection of a small, extinct fish species over fulfilling a directive from the Trump administration to send more water to Southern California.
In a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, on Wednesday, Trump wrote, “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 continued, “He wanted to protect an essentially worthless fish called a smelt, by giving it less water (it didn’t work!), but didn’t care about the people of California. Now the ultimate price is being paid. I will demand that this incompetent governor allow beautiful, clean, fresh water to FLOW INTO CALIFORNIA! He is the [sic] blame for this. On top of it all, no water for fire hydrants, not firefighting planes. A true disaster!”
Trump’s comments referred to Newsom’s legal action aimed at halting the Trump administration’s 2020 directive to divert millions of gallons of water from California to protect endangered species — notably, the delta smelt, which was already deemed functionally extinct.
The redirected water was intended to primarily benefit the state’s agricultural sector.
This conflict between the two has been ongoing for years, with Trump using his 2024 campaign to declare his intention to push Newsom to once again divert water to Southern California.
{Matzav.com}