Trump Goes On Puzzling Truth Social Rant About California Wildfires

The president-elect acknowledged the wildfires by... blaming Gov. Gavin Newsom.

In what appears to be his first public statement addressing the multiple, devastating wildfires that have burned more than 1,000 structures in the Los Angeles area and killed at least two people, President-elect Donald Trump did nothing but blame California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D).

In a convoluted rant on social media, Trump accused Newsom ― whom he called “Newscum” ― of mismanaging the state’s water, and said that once he’s in office, he will “demand” the governor to “allow beautiful, clean, fresh water to FLOW INTO CALIFORNIA!”

Trump claimed that Newsom could have “allowed millions of gallons of water, from excess rain and snow melt ... to flow daily into many parts of California, including the areas that are currently burning,” but chose not to because “he wanted to protect an essentially worthless fish called a smelt.”

Trump’s been blaming the fish for California wildfires since at least 2018, when he began condemning environmentalists (instead of climate change) for the state’s increasingly deadly blazes. Trump has simultaneously pushed for more of the state’s water to be used for agriculture.

It’s unclear whether Trump, who once said “vast amounts of water” are being “foolishly diverted into the Pacific Ocean,” understands how watersheds work.