Donald Trump attacked California Governor Gavin Newsom for being unprepared for the devastating wildfires that have sprung up across Los Angeles and caused immeasurable damage.
The wildfires, which number up to four separate blazes, have already scorched thousands of acres, burned dozens of structures and caused billions of dollars in damage.
The Palisades Fire, which started in Pacific Palisades, California, and is currently the fiercest of all fires, has already burned beachfront homes from Malibu to Santa Monica and is 0 percent contained as of Wednesday afternoon.
Footage of the disaster shows multi-million dollar homes in flames, fleeing residents in panic and brave firefighters desperately trying to extinguish blazes targeting key structures.
The president-elect blasted Newsom in a Truth Social post Wednesday for focusing on environmental priorities like “crappy fish” over those of Golden State residents.
Trump said the governor, whom he called “Gavin Newscum,” a favorite among Republicans’ pet names, was to blame for the disaster.
“Governor Gavin Newscum refused to sign the water recovery declaration presented to him that would have allowed millions of gallons of water from excess rain and snowmelt from the north to flow daily to many parts of California, including areas currently in be on fire. in an almost apocalyptic way.’
California Governor Gavin Newsom surveys wildfire damage in the Pacific Palisades on Tuesday. President-elect Donald Trump sharply criticized Newsom on Wednesday, blaming him for the fires, which were 0 percent contained as of Wednesday afternoon
Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social that he previously warned Newsom about the many fire dangers California faces
A photo of a meltfish
“He wanted to protect a basically worthless fish called a smelt by giving it less water (it didn’t work!), but didn’t care about the people of California,” the statement continued.
‘Now the ultimate price is being paid. I will demand that this incompetent governor keep nice, clean, fresh water flowing to CALIFORNIA! He is to blame for this. Moreover, there is no water for fire hydrants and no fire-fighting aircraft. A real disaster!’
In a separate post, the Republican again criticized the Democrat.
“Right now, Gavin Newscum and his team from Los Angeles have exactly ZERO percent of the fire under control. It’s burning at a level that even surpasses last night. This is not government. I can’t wait until January 20!’ Trump wrote around 2 p.m. ET.
Then, in a third post, he spoke again about the governor of California: “NO WATER IN THE FIRE HYDS, NO MONEY IN FEMA. THIS IS WHAT JOE BIDEN LEAVES ME. THANK YOU JOE!’
Trump has previously criticized Newsom for his handling of fires, telling him he must better manage the state’s many annual wildfires.
During a visit to The Golden State in November 2018, the then-president and the newly elected governor met following the devastating Camp Fire.
During his visit to Skyway Villa Mobile Home and RV Park in Paradise, California, Trump warned “you have to take care of the floors.”
Footage of their exchange has surfaced online amid calls for Newsom to resign as wildfires ravage parts of Los Angeles, amid complaints about fire hydrants without water and power lines left unturned.
In the 2018 clip, he says, “Get this all cleaned up and protected. You have to take care of the floors. The floors of the forest.’
During their 2018 visit to Skyway Villa Mobile Home and RV Park in Paradise, California, seen here, Trump warned ‘you gotta take care of the floors’
More than 30,000 people have now fled the city as California issues warn there is an ‘imminent threat to life’
Residents of Pacific Palisades have shared the fear they faced as they were forced to evacuate their homes Tuesday as a massive fire continued to spread
Trump slammed the governor again in 2019 for doing a “terrible job” managing the state’s forests.
“I told him from the first day we met that he had to ‘clean up’ his forest floors, no matter what his bosses, the environmentalists, DEMAND of him,” Trump wrote at the time.
“Burns should also be applied and firestops cut,” he added, referring to overlooked forest management policies.
In 2021, Newsom signed a bill allocating more than $15 billion to combat wildfires, drought and other climate challenges facing California.
That climate package spent nearly $1 billion exclusively on helping prevent wildfires, after the two most devastating on record occurred within a year of each other.
But these new fires could be the costliest to ever hit California.
Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles, told CNN on Wednesday that the ongoing fires in Southern California could have historic costs.
“It’s likely that the Palisades Fire in particular will be the costliest fire ever, not just in California, but in general,” Swain told CNN.
A house burns during the Eaton fire in the Altadena area of Los Angeles County, California on January 8, 2025
“We probably checked that box this time. I hope we don’t tick other boxes too.’
Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s new press secretary, confirmed her boss’s criticism of Newsom in a post Wednesday afternoon.
“President Trump is 100 percent right about the wildfires. In 2020, he signed an order to divert water from Northern Cali to cities and farmers in the South. Gavin Newscum immediately filed suit to protect “highly endangered fish species that are nearly extinct,” she wrote.
The fires were so widespread that Vice President Kamala Harris’ home in Southern California was under an evacuation order.
“Last night, the Vice President’s neighborhood in Los Angeles was under an evacuation order,” the vice president’s press secretary said in a statement.
‘There was no one in her house at the time. They and the Second Gentleman pray for the safety of their fellow countrymen, the heroic first responders and Secret Service personnel.”