President Trump is sending a clear message: if California doesn’t step up its water game, federal disaster aid for the LA area might not happen.
He’s set to approve into Southern California this Friday to check out the communities hit hard by the fires. In a recent interview on Fox News, Trump didn’t hold back, criticizing California’s water management and taking shots at Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom. He told Sean Hannity that until California starts sending more water to the southern regions, he doesn’t believe the federal government should be footing the bill for anything.
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“I don’t think we should give California anything until they let water flow down,” the president told Fox News on Wednesday.
According to CNN, some experts are saying that desalination plays a role in why California has to let some water flow out to the Pacific, making the whole situation way more complex than what the president is suggesting.
The wildfires sweeping through the L.A. area have taken a heavy toll, claiming at least 28 lives, destroying over 15,000 buildings, and scorching around 63 square miles of land. The Palisades and Eaton fires are still raging, and a new blaze in Castaic, which kicked off Wednesday, has forced more than 50,000 residents to evacuate or stay on high alert in northern L.A. County.
Trump mentioned to NBC that he wanted to visit sooner, but thought it would be more appropriate to come as president. So far, details about his trip are pretty sparse, and Newsom’s team said they’re only hearing about it through “sources,” as reported by The Associated Press.
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Newsom has extended an invitation to Trump to come see the aftermath of the fires, expressing that he’s looking forward to the visit. However, it’s worth noting that Trump has previously taken jabs at Newsom on social media, even calling him “Gavin Newscum,” and has been critical of how the governor handles forest and brush management in the state.
“Governor Gavin Newscum should immediately go to Northern California and open up the water main, and let the water flow into his dry, starving, burning State, instead of having it go out into the Pacific Ocean,” Trump wroterecently on his Truth Social platform. “It ought to be done right now, NO MORE EXCUSES FROM THIS INCOMPETENT GOVERNOR. IT’S ALREADY FAR TOO LATE!
