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President-elect Donald Trump blamed California Gov. Gavin Newsom for the ‘apocalyptic’ wildfires ravaging the Pacific Palisades in Los Angles — claiming he chose to save an extinct tiny fish species, instead of complying with a Trump admin order to send more water to southern California.
“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,” Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social, on Wednesday.
“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!”
Stay up to date with the NYP’s coverage of the terrifying LA-area fires
Trump was referring to Newsom’s move to file a lawsuit to halt Trump’s 2020 order redirecting millions of gallons of California’s water to protect endangered fish — namely the delta smelt, which was already ruled functionally extinct.
The water would have mainly gone to California’s farmers.
The two have sparred over California’s water supply for years, with Trump vowing on the 2024 campaign trail to force Newsom to redirect water to southern California again.
