California Democrats get an early taste of new clashes with Trump as wildfires rage on

Hed: California Democrats get an early taste of new clashes with Trump as wildfires rage on

President-elect Donald Trump launched a new round of criticism Sunday targeting Democrats over their efforts to tame the Southern California wildfires, ripping rival liberal leaders as “incompetent” witnesses to “one of the worst catastrophes in the history of our Country.” Trump’s Truth Social post is the latest in a series of attacks by the president-elect and his allies on California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. The Democrats already face tough questions from their constituents and other elected officials — including those from their own party and, increasingly, one another. But the broadsides from Trump and supporters such as billionaire Elon Musk — several of them misleading or citing erroneous reports — are setting the stage for fights to come between the president-elect and liberal cities and states ahead of his inauguration next week. The push-and-pull recalls some of the touchy, high-stakes interactions between Trump and top Democrats during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, when leaders of liberal-leaning cities and states often pulled their political punches over concerns about alienating the first Trump White House and delaying federal support. Newsom is no stranger to clashes with Trump, but the crisis sweeping Los Angeles now presents a unique and more urgent challenge. The governor, considered a potential 2028 presidential candidate, expressed frustration with Trump’s rhetoric, but also has invited him to come and survey the damage “to meet with the Americans affected by these fires, see the devastation firsthand, and join me and others in thanking the heroic firefighters and first responders who are putting their lives on the line.” The softer approach followed a more pointed response from the California leader during an interview last week with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, during which he sounded deeply frustrated by Trump’s commentary. “People are literally fleeing. People have lost their lives. Kids lost their schools. Families completely torn asunder, churches burned down,” Newsom said. “This guy wanted to politicize it.”