Trump blames "incompetent" Gov. Newsom for deadly Los Angeles fires: "A true disaster"
SACRAMENTO — President-elect Donald Trump blamed California Governor Gavin Newsom for the deadly wildfires devastating Los Angeles County this week — and the governor's office has fired back.
As of Wednesday, more than 80,000 civilians remained evacuated from their homes after a series of wildfires burned more than 20,000 combined acres. At least five people have been reported dead with several others injured.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said, in part, "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."
Newsom's press office countered in a post to X by calling the existence of a water restoration declaration document "pure fiction."
"The Governor is focused on protecting people, not playing politics, and making sure firefighters have all the resources they need," the post said.
Wednesday afternoon, Newsom announced that California had secured a federal major disaster declaration in response to the wildfires.
"Thanks to President Biden's support, we're immediately mobilizing life-saving and life-sustaining resources and funds across the region," Newsom said in a post to X.
The fires have been fueled by Hurricane-force Santa Ana winds, with some gusts being reported up to 100 miles per hour, coupled with dry conditions.
Firefighters from Northern California and surrounding states have been sent in to assist. As of late Wednesday afternoon, Newsom said nearly 5,000 firefighters — federal, state and local personnel — were assigned to the fires.
Republican Assemblymember Bill Essayli and Democratic Congressman John Garamendi were asked about the exchange with the President-elect.
"I think it's always appropriate to hold the people accountable who are responsible for the disaster, the unmitigated disaster that California is facing right now," Essayli said. "We need to make sure the public knows exactly who is responsible because without holding them accountable, this will never change."
Garamendi added, "Get ready for the early morning tweets. We are going to see that again. We saw it for four years. We're going to see more of it. the tragedy of it is, it diverts u from real solutions."
Essayli did also call on Newsom to proclaim a special session to fire-proof California instead of the current special session to "Trump-proof" the state.
See Trump's full Truth Social post below:
"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 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 blame for this. On top of it all, no water for fire hydrants, not firefighting planes. A true disaster!"
