Trump taunts California leaders over ‘incompetent’ fire response
Donald Trump has lashed out at California officials over their “incompetent” response to the devastating Los Angeles wildfires that are still raging out of control.
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US President-elect Donald Trump has accused California officials of incompetence over their handling of the deadly wildfires raging around Los Angeles.
“The fires are still raging in L.A. The incompetent pols (politicians) have no idea how to put them out,” Mr Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
“This is one of the worst catastrophes in the history of our Country. They just can’t put out the fires. What’s wrong with them?” he wrote.
The speed and intensity of the blazes ravaging Los Angeles have tested its firefighting infrastructure and given rise to questions and criticism about the state’s preparedness.
Hydrants ran dry in the upscale Pacific Palisades neighbourhood, home to famous actors such as Billy Crystal and Kate Beckinsale, as it was ravaged by one of the region’s five separate fires, while water shortages additionally hampered efforts elsewhere.
With just over a week before he returns to the White House, Mr Trump has launched a series of taunting salvos accusing California’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom of failings in response to the blazes.
Mr Newsom has meanwhile invited Mr Trump to visit Los Angeles and survey the devastation with him.
The fires have so far killed at least 16 people, displaced at least 150,000, including many Australians, with some tallies putting the figure closer to 200,000, and destroyed more than 15,000 structures.
“Thousands of magnificent houses are gone, and many more will soon be lost. There is death all over the place,” Mr Trump said in his post.
From the schools featured in the movies Carrie and Freaky Friday, to the neighbourhood the Beach Boys sang about in Surfin’ USA, many famous spots have been damaged or destroyed.
Jerry Seinfeld’s favourite restaurant, Malibu’s Reel Inn, is a smouldering ruin.
Despite firefighters’ heroic efforts, including precision sorties from aerial crews, the Palisades Fire has continued to push east towards the priceless collections of the Getty Villa art museum and north to the densely populated San Fernando Valley.
“I think that Gavin is largely incompetent, and I think the mayor [Karen Bass] is largely incompetent, and probably both of them are just stone-cold incompetent,” Mr Trump said on Thursday night while hosting Republican governors at Mar-a-Lago in Florida, ABC reports.
Since the fires erupted, Mr Trump has blamed Governor Gavin Newsom and current President Joe Biden for the severity of the disaster.
Mr Trump claimed that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) had “no money” to help California despite Congress recently passing a disaster relief supplemental totalling US$29 billion.
Mr Trump also accused Mr Newsom, who he refers to as “Newscum,” of refusing to sign a “water restoration declaration,” saying he diverted water resources in order to protect the endangered Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta’s smelt fish.
“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,” Mr Trump posted on Truth Social last week.
While there are regulations that limit the amount of water pumped from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to protect the species, the governor’s office said there was no such declaration, calling the accusation “pure fiction.”
“Responding to Donald Trump’s insults, we would spend another month,” Gov. Newsom said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.
“Every elected official that he disagrees with is very familiar with them.”
But the governor added, “I called for him to come out, take a look for himself. We want to do it in the spirit of an open hand, not a closed fist. He’s the president-elect.”
He said he had received no response from Mr Trump to his invitation so far.
Mr Biden and emergency officials have rejected Mr Trump’s claims that the fires are a result of leadership missteps, saying the fire was caused by fierce winds and extremely dry conditions and that the water shortage occurred due to power being shut off in order to avoid sparking additional fires.
The Palisades and Eaton fires are still out of control in Los Angeles, five days after they began ripping across the county.
At a news conference on Thursday, LA Mayor Karen Bass avoided a question about her absence from the city when the fires began (she was in Ghana on a previously scheduled official visit) and said that any evaluation of mistakes or failures by “any body, department, individual” would come later.
Mr Trump has previously threatened to cut off California’s federal funding if it does not comply with his wishes.
“That’s his style … we take it seriously,” the governor told NBC.
State and local officials in California have faced searing criticism as Mr Trump and other Republicans, as well as those whose homes have been lost in the infernos, demand answers about the state’s planning and preparedness.
One resident, Rachel Dervish, confronted the governor in a parking lot, demanding to know what Mr Newsom was doing to stop the fires.
He said he was trying to call President Biden but that he had no mobile service.
On Sunday, local time, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said there was no animosity between the state and President-elect Donald Trump, adding she has been in communication with representatives of his incoming administration.
“I joined in the invitation to the incoming President to come to Los Angeles. I joined with the supervisor and the governor. Spoke directly with the incoming administration yesterday. It was a fine call,” Mayor Bass said.
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Originally published as Trump taunts California leaders over ‘incompetent’ fire response
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