California’s Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday invited the president-elect to Los Angeles to survey wildfire damage and meet with first responders, firefighters and paramedics, renewing his longstanding relationship with Donald Trump. It seemed like they had put their feud aside for a while. “Americans” were influenced.
“In the spirit of this great nation, we must not politicize human tragedy or spread disinformation from the sidelines,” Newsom said in a letter to Trump on Friday. “Hundreds of thousands of Americans who have been forced from their homes and whose futures are uncertain deserve to see all of us work to put their best interests first and ensure rapid recovery and rebuilding. there is.”
The détente lasted less than 24 hours. By Saturday, Newsom, who is vying to lead the Democratic Party by 2028, had returned to a more familiar oppositional stance.
In an interview with Pod Save America, he denied President Trump’s claims that he is withholding water from Southern California to save the endangered delta smelt, saying the president-elect’s message on the issue is He called it a “delusion” and “part of a consistent mantra from the president.” President Trump goes back years and has reinforced it many times within the right wing…and is completely ignorant. ”
Newsom said Californians have valid concerns that Trump will try to withhold federal relief funds, despite efforts by governors the previous day. Newsom said Saturday evening that President Trump had not yet responded to calls regarding the wildfire response.
“He’s done this in the past, not just here in California,” Newsom told the podcaster, pointing to Tump’s past actions in Puerto Rico, Utah, Connecticut and Georgia. “This rhetoric is very familiar and increasingly serious, and clearly we all have reason to be concerned about it.”
This may be a sign that the politicization of the Los Angeles fires will intensify. For competing political factions, the ruins of parts of Los Angeles provide an attractive but dangerous arena for developing their conflicting policies.
For Democrats, the intensity of wildfires driven by late-season Santa Ana winds is evidence of climate change, which some Republicans dismiss as a political hoax. For some Republicans, including Mr. Trump, the fires are evidence of the Democratic Party’s failure to promote racial and gender equality.
Last week, even before the extent of the devastation became clear, Trump attacked Newsom as a “newscam” and called for the governor’s resignation.
“One of the greatest and most beautiful parts of the United States of America is about to burn to ashes,” Trump wrote to governors in a post on his website Truth Social. “Gavin Newscome resigns. It’s all his fault!”
President Trump accused Newsom of refusing to sign the water restoration declaration. “That would mean millions of gallons of water from excess rain and snowmelt from the north would flow into many areas of California each day, including areas where the fires are currently burning.” It’s an apocalyptic approach. ”
Alongside Republicans, Ohio Rep. Warren Davidson on Friday called for federal disaster relief to be withheld from California unless the state reformed its forest management practices.
The feud between the two political leaders over environmental issues has been percolating since at least 2018, after wildfires devastated Malibu and Paradise, when President Trump criticized the creation of firebreaks and the destruction of flammable undergrowth. It accused Newsom and state Democratic leaders of “gross mismanagement” of the forest by failing to remove it.
At the time, Newsom defended California’s wildfire prevention efforts while criticizing the federal government for not doing enough to protect the state. “You don’t believe in climate change. You are exempt from this conversation,” Newsom told President Trump in a post about X.
The controversy began early last year when President Trump appeared to confuse former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown with former Gov. Jerry Brown when he said he nearly crashed into a helicopter while surveying wildfire damage with Brown. It was rekindled.
A spokesperson for Mr. Newsom, who was on the plane, said there were no problems, no emergency landing, and no disparaging conversations about Kamala Harris, as Mr. Trump had claimed. .
Trump campaign spokeswoman Caroline Leavitt later responded: “The president has a lot of great stories in his life.”
The bonds and potential rifts run deeper than politics. Mr. Newsom was married to Kimberly Guilfoyle from 2001 to 2006. Guilfoyle has since dated Trump’s eldest son, Don Jr., and recently led Donald Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign fundraising arm and was appointed U.S. ambassador to Greece.
The conflict between the two sides is likely to continue, but Politico reported that an anonymous Trump official downplayed the idea of Trump withholding aid from the country.
Joe Biden has already approved a disaster declaration for the Southern California fires, committing the federal government to fully cover the cost of fire management and debris removal for six months.
“We are with you,” Biden vowed. “We’re not going anywhere.”
Newsom thanked Biden, a fellow Democrat, for “authorizing the major disaster declaration.” In a letter to Trump, Newsom wrote that Biden’s actions “strongly demonstrate the partnership California needs and values with all federal governments,” Newsom wrote in a letter to Trump, according to Politico. .
“However, the threat to life and property remains serious,” Newsom added.
Late Friday, President Trump announced on Truth Social that he had appointed Ed Russo, who describes himself as a “dirt-cleaning tree hugger” and calls President Trump an “environmental hero,” to his environmental advisory group.
“Together, we will achieve America’s energy dominance, rebuild our economy, and drill, baby, drill,” Trump wrote in the post.
This comes as Newsom works with the California state legislature and the outgoing Biden administration to block President Trump’s “America First” energy policy ahead of Trump’s inauguration in 10 days. That’s true.
Newsom said California’s legislative efforts are precautionary in nature and that he intends to approach the returning president with “an open hand, not a clenched fist.”
But President Trump made future disaster funding for California an issue during his 2024 campaign, telling Newsom in September that he would direct more water to California farmers if he wanted to continue the flow of federal funds. They called for reform of water policy.
“If he doesn’t sign these papers, we won’t give him the money to put out all the fires,” Trump said.
