Donald Trump Blames California Governor Gavin Newsom for 'Virtually Apocalyptic' Los Angeles Wildfires: 'A True Disaster!'

President-elect Donald Trump blamed California Governor Gavin Newsom for the intense wildfire spreading across the greater Los Angeles area.

The soon-to-be president alleged that Newsom's water management and environmental conservation policies led to the ongoing crisis getting out of hand.

Trump took to Truth Social on Wednesday, January 8, to go after California's governor in a lengthy post, attacking him over the delta smelt, a small fish listed under the Endangered Species Act, which requires specific water flow conditions to survive. These protections often lead to restrictions on how much water can be diverted for agriculture and urban use.

"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," he shared to his 8.4 million followers. "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."

The GOP leader also went after California's recent water policies, specifically those impacting the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.

"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!"

The President-elect followed up his post by sharing, "As of this moment, Gavin Newscum and his Los Angeles crew have contained exactly ZERO percent of the fire. It is burning at levels that even surpass last night. This is not Government. I can’t wait till January 20th!"

"The fires in Los Angeles may go down, in dollar amount, as the worst in the History of our Country. In many circles, they’re doubting whether insurance companies will even have enough money to pay for this catastrophe. Let this serve, and be emblematic, of the gross incompetence and mismanagement of the Biden/Newscum Duo. January 20th cannot come fast enough," he continued.

During his presidency, Trump advocated for increased water allocations to Central Valley farmers, calling environmental regulations overly restrictive. Environmental groups, however, warned that weakening these protections could further threaten already fragile species and ecosystems.

Governor Newsom took to X shortly after the wildfires broke out, writing: "California has deployed 1400+ firefighting personnel & hundreds of prepositioned assets to combat these unprecedented fires in LA. Emergency officials, firefighters, and first responders are all hands on deck through the night to do everything possible to protect lives."

He also declared a state of emergency as the fires have burned more than 3,000 acres, including several homes, and has zero containment as of Wednesday morning.