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Associated Press

As cataclysmic wildfires rage across Los Angeles, US president-elect Donald Trump hasn’t been offering much sympathy. Instead, he’s claiming he could do a better job managing the crisis, spewing falsehoods and casting blame on the state’s Democratic governor.
Trump has lashed out at his long-time political foe Governor. Gavin Newsom’s forest management policies and falsely claimed the state’s fish conservation efforts are responsible for fire hydrants running dry in urban areas.
Referring to the governor by a derisive nickname, Trump said he should resign.
Meanwhile, more than 180,000 people have been under evacuation orders and the fires have consumed more than 116 sq km (45 square miles). One that destroyed the neighbourhood of Pacific Palisades became the most destructive blaze in Los Angeles history.

Trump vs Newsom: Round 2 was to be expected – the liberal Democrat has long been one of Trump’s biggest foils.
But the Western fires are also a sign of something far more grave than a political spat or a fight over fish. Wildfire season is growing ever longer thanks to increasing drought and heat brought on by climate change.
Trump refuses to recognise the environmental dangers, instead blaming increasing natural disasters on his political opponents or on acts of God. He has promised to drill for more oil and cut back on renewable energy.
On Thursday, Trump said on social media that Newsom should “open up the water main” – an overly simplistic solution to a complex problem. “NO MORE EXCUSES FROM THIS INCOMPETENT GOVERNOR,” Trump said, adding: “IT’S ALREADY FAR TOO LATE!”
Standing on the street in a scorched subdivision as a home behind him was engulfed in flames, Newsom responded to the criticism when asked about it by CNN.
“People are literally fleeing. People have lost their lives. Kids lost their schools. Families completely torn asunder. Churches burned down, and this guy wants to politicise it,” Newsom said. “I have a lot of thoughts and I know what I want to say, but I won’t.”


In a post on his Truth Social media network, Trump tried to connect dry hydrants to criticism of the state’s approach to balancing the distribution of water to farms and cities with the need to protect endangered species including the Delta smelt.
Trump has sided with farmers over environmentalists in a long-running dispute over California’s scarce water resources. But that debate has nothing to do with the hydrant issue in Los Angeles, driven by an intense demand on a municipal system not designed to battle such blazes.
About 40 per cent of Los Angeles city water comes from state-controlled projects connected to northern California and the state has limited the water it delivers this year. But the southern California reservoirs these canals help feed are at above-average levels for this time of year.
Roughly 20 per cent of hydrants across the city went dry as crews battled blazes, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said.
Firefighters in Southern California are accustomed to dealing with the strong Santa Ana winds that blow in the fall and winter, but the hurricane-force gusts earlier in the week took them by surprise.
The winds grounded firefighting aircraft that should have been making critical water drops, straining the hydrant system.

“This is unlike anything I’ve seen in my 25 years on the fire department,” Los Angeles Fire Captain Adam VanGerpen told CBS Mornings.
Janisse Quinones, head of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, said the ferocity of the fire made the demand for water four times greater than “we’ve ever seen in the system”.
Hydrants are designed for fighting fires at one or two houses at a time, not hundreds, Quinones said, and refilling the tanks also requires asking fire services to pause firefighting efforts.
US President Joe Biden, who was in California for an environmental event that ended up being cancelled as the fires raged, appeared with Newsom at a Santa Monica firehouse on Wednesday and quickly issued a major disaster declaration for California, releasing some immediate federal funds.
But any additional federal response will be overseen by Trump, who has a history of withholding or delaying federal aid to punish his political enemies.
In September, during a press conference at his Los Angeles golf course, Trump threatened: “We won’t give him money to put out all his fires. And if we don’t give him the money to put out his fires, he’s got problems.”

Trump’s support in California has increased in recent years, which could further embolden him in his tussles with Democratic leaders there.
In 2024, he improved on his vote share in Los Angeles and surrounding areas hit by the fires by 4.68 percentage points. And while he still lost the state overall, he grew his overall margin by 4 points compared to the 2020 election.
As for the impact of the fires on Californians, Trump said areas in Beverly Hills and around it were “being decimated” and that he had “many friends living in those houses”. He framed the losses as a potential hit to the state’s finances.
“The biggest homes, some of the most valuable homes in the world are just destroyed. I don’t even know. You talk about a tax base, if those people leave you’re going to lose half your tax base of California,” Trump said.


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Donald Trump

As Los Angeles burns, Trump offers blame rather than sympathy

A home is engulfed in flames during the Eaton fire in the Altadena area of Los Angeles County on Wednesday. Photo: AFP

The Eaton fire in Altadena, California, is seen in a satellite image on Wednesday. Image: Maxar Technologies via AP

California Governor Gavin Newsom surveys the fire damage in Pacific Palisades on Wednesday. Photo: The Orange County Register via AP

The Eaton fire burns a vehicle in Altadena, California, on Wednesday. Photo: AP

Los Angeles wildfires spread to Hollywood as mayor declares inferno ‘the big one’

Firefighters protect a structure as the Eaton Fire advances in Altadena, California, on Wednesday. Photo: AP

Water is dropped by helicopter on the burning Sunset Fire in the Hollywood Hills. Photo: AP

A firefighter battles the Palisades fire on the west side of Los Angeles. Photo: Reuters

A wildfire-ravaged property in the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood. Photo: AP

Multiple fires cover the skyline with smoke in Los Angeles. Photo: Reuters

A satellite image shows smoke covering houses after devastating wildfires, in Altadena, California. Photo: Maxar Technologies via Reuters

Biden cancels final foreign trip of presidency as fires rage in California

US President Joe Biden with California Governor Gavin Newsom at a Santa Monica fire station. Photo: Reuters

Celebrities among those who lost homes in devastating Los Angeles fires

Flames from the Palisades Fire burn a building on Sunset Boulevard. Photo: AFP

A wildfire burns homes on a hilltop in the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood of Los Angeles. Photo: AP

Michelle Obama misses Jimmy Carter funeral, where she would have sat beside Trump

US president-elect Donald Trump speaks with former president Barack Obama as they attend Jimmy Carter’s state funeral at the Washington National Cathedral on Thursday. Photo: AFP

(From left) Then US President Barack Obama, former president Jimmy Carter, first lady Michelle Obama and former president Bill Clinton wave to the crowd from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington in August 2013. Photo: AP

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Politics

While thousands lose their homes, the US president is spewing falsehoods and claiming he could do a better job of managing the crisis


While thousands lose their homes, the US president is spewing falsehoods and claiming he could do a better job of managing the crisis.
