Donald Trump told Joe Rogan his California wildfire fears three months ago: ‘Sounding the alarm’

US President-elect Donald Trump sounded the alarm about wildfires three months ago as he criticised California’s water management policies to podcaster Joe Rogan.

US President-elect Donald Trump addressed the dangers of California’s wildfires in his October interview with Joe Rogan — months before this week’s raging infernos around Los Angeles

Mr Trump, 78, gave the prescient warning in the pre-election podcast interview as he railed against the Golden State’s water management policies and Governor Gavin Newsom’s handling of past catastrophes.

“You know, in Los Angeles, you can’t get proper amounts of water,” Trump told the mega podcaster three months ago — as he bashed the state for wasting rainwater that could be used to fight fires.

Joe Rogan interviewing Donald Trump on his podcast. Mr Trump said he was worried about the wildfire threat in California. Picture: YouTube

“In order to protect a tiny little fish, the water up north gets routed into the Pacific Ocean. Millions and millions of gallons of water get poured [into the Pacific],” he continued, referring to the protection of smelt.

“I got it all done. Nobody could believe it … You got so much water. All you have to do is sign, and [Gavin Newsom] didn’t wanna sign.

“Every time I go to California, I say, ‘You have so much water.’ They don’t know it,” he added, referring to a derailed 2020 water restoration declaration he put forward.

The resurfaced clip went viral on social media as firefighters continued to battle a series of out-of-control fires that have already killed five people, ravaged communities and sent thousands of people frantically fleeing their homes.

Some on social media quickly praised the soon-to-be 47th president for what they described as “sounding the alarm.”

Mr Trump, meanwhile, continued to attack Mr Newsom’s wildfire prevention leadership in the state — taking to Truth Social to slam the Democratic governor, as well as Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, for “gross negligence.”

Separately, Mr Trump has also slammed Mr Newsom over his failure to remove underbrush and dead trees that can fuel forest fires — though it’s not yet clear whether that was a factor in the latest blazes.

“The Governor of California, @GavinNewsom, has done a terrible job of forest management. I told him from the first day we met that he must ‘clean’ his forest floors regardless of what his bosses, the environmentalists, DEMAND of him. Must also do burns and cut fire stoppers,” Mr Trump posted to X in 2019 as the Kincade Fire raged in the state’s north.

“Every year, as the fire’s rage & California burns, it is the same thing – and then he comes to the Federal Government for $$$ help. No more. Get your act together Governor. You don’t see close to the level of burn in other states.”

American podcaster Joe Rogan. Picture: YouTube

It comes as resurfaced clips from the “Joe Rogan Experience” show that the mega podcaster has been warning the “right wind” will catch one of California’s many wildfires and “burn through LA to the ocean.”

Rogan, 57, was eerily wearing a Los Angeles Fire Department shirt while speaking with fellow comic Sam Morril in July 2024 and was sharing why he left Los Angeles — one of the reasons being that he was always “waiting for the next fire.”

“I was evacuated three times from my house from fires,” Rogan said. “Last one, two houses in front of my house burnt to the ground.”

The UFC commentator said seeing the raging inferno approaching was “f**king scary,” and he and his wife decided to leave with their kids before an evacuation order was put into effect, adding that the fire eventually “swept through” and destroyed “40 houses” in his neighbourhood.

Rogan then said that one of the things that “freaked” him out was when he spoke with an unnamed fireman, pointing out that he was donning a department shirt.

“He goes, ‘One day, it’s just going to be the right wind, and fire’s gonna start in the right place, and it’s going to burn through LA all the way to the ocean, and there’s not a f**king thing we can do about it,’” he recalled.

Rogan said the fireman told him that people in LA “get lucky with the wind” and that it’s a crapshoot when one of these fires becomes unstoppable.

The podcaster’s story about the firefighter’s warning is something he has reiterated for years on his show.

In 2018, while living in Bell Canyon in Ventura County before moving to Austin, TX., Rogan spoke with English mentalist Derren Brown while wildfires were ongoing in the city.

Brown said in the opening remarks of the episode that he was fortunate to make it to the interview because of the fires, and Rogan immediately told him the same firefighter’s warning that the “right wind” could catch one of these fires and run through LA “to the ocean.”

In 2019, while interviewing journalist David Wallace-Wells, the two talked about how wildfires in California are predicted to get “64 times worse by the end of the century,” and again, told his guest about what the firefighter warned him.

The story is something Rogan frequently brought up on his show when discussing wildfires with guests, with the comic again telling it as recently as last month during an interview with directors Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avary.

Both Academy Award winners live in Los Angeles, and Avary, 59, told Rogan about how he couldn’t get insurance on his house because of the wildfires.

Tarantino, 61, then told the podcaster he was “lucky” the fires never reached his house in the Hollywood Hills — adding that he was “afraid” even to mention it.

Rogan, who finally mentioned that he spoke with the firefighter while hosting “Fear Factor,” once again brought up the warning he was told about the “right wind” catching a wildfire one day and burning through LA “to the ocean.”

“He goes, ‘When those big fires get going, there’s not a damn thing we can do,” Rogan recalled being told.

Roughly 100,000 LA County residents were forced to leave behind their homes and flee to safety as wildfire rages Wednesday across the Pacific Palisades and surrounding areas.

At least five people are dead, and thousands of structures have been destroyed.

As of early Thursday, nearly 27,000 acres had burned in the Los Angeles area.

Wind gusts topping 100 miles per hour had caused several fires to grow from non-existent to out-of-control within minutes in some places.

This story first appeared in the New York Post.

Originally published as Donald Trump told Joe Rogan his California wildfire fears three months ago: ‘Sounding the alarm’