WASHINGTON (AP) As devastating wildfires sweep through Los Angeles, President-elect Donald Trump has offered little in the way of sympathy. Instead, he has focused on criticizing the state’s crisis management, spreading misinformation, and placing blame on California’s Democratic Governor, Gavin Newsom.
Trump has attacked Newsom’s forest management policies and falsely suggested that the state’s fish conservation efforts are to blame for urban fire hydrants running dry. Using a mocking nickname for the governor, Trump even called for his resignation.
Meanwhile, over 180,000 residents are under evacuation orders, and the fires have scorched more than 45 square miles (116 square kilometers). One blaze, which ravaged the Pacific Palisades neighborhood, has become the most destructive in Los Angeles history.
The renewed clash between Trump and Newsom was predictable, as the liberal governor has long been a frequent target of Trump’s criticism. However, the growing severity of wildfire seasons, fueled by worsening drought and heat linked to climate change, underscores a crisis far graver than a political rivalry or disputes over fish.
Trump refuses to recognize the environmental dangers, instead blaming increasing natural disasters on his political opponents or on acts of God. He has promised to drill for more oil and cut back on renewable energy.
On Thursday, Trump said on social media that Newsom should “open up the water main” — an overly simplistic solution to a complex problem. “NO MORE EXCUSES FROM THIS INCOMPETENT GOVERNOR,” Trump said, adding, “IT’S ALREADY FAR TOO LATE!”
Standing on the street in a scorched subdivision as a home behind him was engulfed in flames, Newsom responded to the criticism when asked about it by CNN.
“People are literally fleeing. People have lost their lives. Kids lost their schools. Families completely torn asunder. Churches burned down, and this guy wants to politicize it,” Newsom said. “I have a lot of thoughts and I know what I want to say, but I won’t.”
In a post on his Truth Social media network, Trump tried to connect dry hydrants to criticism of the state’s approach to balancing the distribution of water to farms and cities with the need to protect endangered species, including the Delta smelt. Trump has sided with farmers over environmentalists in a long-running dispute over California’s scarce water resources. But that debate has nothing to do with the hydrant issue in Los Angeles, driven by an intense demand on a municipal system not designed to battle such blazes.
Trump hosted Republican governors at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida on Thursday night and suggested that, upon taking office, he’d pressure California into changing its water policies.
“We’re gonna force that upon him now,” the president-elect said of Newsom. “But it’s very late because I think it’s one of the great catastrophes in the history of our nation.”
About 40% of Los Angeles city water comes from state-controlled projects connected to northern California and the state has limited the water it delivers this year. But the southern California reservoirs these canals help feed are at above-average levels for this time of year.
Roughly 20% of hydrants across the city went dry as crews battled blazes, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said. Firefighters in Southern California are accustomed to dealing with the strong Santa Ana winds that blow in the fall and winter, but the hurricane-force gusts earlier in the week took them by surprise. The winds grounded firefighting aircraft that should have been making critical water drops, straining the hydrant system.
“This is unlike anything I’ve seen in my 25 years on the fire department,” Los Angeles Fire Capt. Adam VanGerpen told CBS This Morning.
Janisse Quiñones, head of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, said the ferocity of the fire made the demand for water four times greater than “we’ve ever seen in the system.”
Hydrants are designed for fighting fires at one or two houses at a time, not hundreds, Quiñones said, and refilling the tanks also requires asking fire departments to pause firefighting efforts.
President Joe Biden, who was in California for an environmental event that ended up being canceled as the fires raged, appeared with Newsom at a Santa Monica firehouse on Wednesday. On Thursday, without naming Trump, he explained in a briefing how the hydrants had ended up dry, saying he was seeking to debunk rumors in “simple straightforward language.” In crisis, he said, “rumors and fear spread very quickly.”
“There is in case you haven’t noticed, there is global warming,” Biden said, adding “it’s not about the politics, it’s about getting people some sense of security.”
“Climate change is real,” he said emphatically.
Biden also quickly issued a major disaster declaration for California, releasing some immediate federal funds, and approved 100% federal funding for 180 days.
At the Mar-a-Lago meeting, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis — Trump’s rival in the previous GOP presidential primary — defended the president-elect as someone willing to collaborate with both red and blue states during emergencies. DeSantis also criticized the media for amplifying controversy and political divisions between Trump and California Governor Gavin Newsom.
“I worked well with Biden during his time with natural disasters, and I worked well with Donald Trump,” DeSantis said, referencing hurricanes in Florida and the deadly Surfside condo collapse in 2021. “I’m very confident that a Trump administration will be strong and there for the people, regardless of party.”
However, any additional federal response will ultimately be overseen by Trump, who has a track record of using federal aid as leverage against political adversaries. In September, during a press conference at his Los Angeles golf course, Trump issued a stark warning: “We won’t give him [Newsom] money to put out all his fires. And if we don’t give him the money to put out his fires, he’s got problems.”
Trump’s support in California has grown in recent years, potentially strengthening his position in disputes with Democratic leaders. In 2024, he improved his vote share in Los Angeles and nearby fire-stricken areas by 4.68 percentage points. Although he still lost the state overall, he narrowed the margin by four points compared to the 2020 election.
Commenting on the devastating impact of the fires, Trump pointed to areas like Beverly Hills, saying they were “being decimated” and noting that he had “many friends living in those houses.” He framed the destruction as a financial blow to California, warning of potential economic fallout.
“The biggest homes, some of the most valuable in the world, are just destroyed. I don’t even know. You talk about a tax base — if those people leave, you’re going to lose half your tax base in California,” Trump said.
