On Wednesday, as wildfires ravaged some of Los Angeles’ most iconic neighborhoods and thousands watched as their homes burned to the ground, President-elect Donald Trump took to social media to air out his grievances – and blame California Governor Gavin Newsom and sitting President Joe Biden for the natural disaster.
On Truth Social, Trump posted, “No water in the hydrants, no money in FEMA. This is what Joe Biden is leaving me. Thanks, Joe!” Various sources have confirmed Trump’s statement is untrue. There is about $27 billion in FEMA currently, thanks to a disaster relief fund bill signed by Biden last month. However, the fund was depleted in 2024 due to several nationwide natural disasters.
With the fires 0% contained on Wednesday, Trump posted a series of complaints blaming Newsom as well. On Truth Social, he 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 snowmelt 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 smelt by giving it less water (it didn’t work!), but he didn’t care about the people of California. Now, the ultimate price is being paid.”
Following the comments, Newsom’s office assures the public that no such water restoration declaration ever came across his desk. “There was no ‘water restoration declaration’ for him to sign,” the senior fellow in the Water Policy Center at the Public Policy Institute of California added.
The Center added that Southern California has no water shortage for fighting fires. Additionally, the smelt fish Trump referenced is native to Northern California. In 2020, Newsom challenged a Trump plan to irrigate California’s Central Valley with water from the state’s northern region, citing the endangered fish’s importance to Northern California’s ecosystem. The Water Policy Center also noted that irrigation water from Northern California to the Central Valley would not be used, nor could have prevented, the fires in Southern California.
