Donald Trump, the U.S. President-elect, has strongly criticized incompetent politicians in relation to the massive wildfire that broke out in Los Angeles (LA).
On the 12th (local time), Trump expressed his criticism on his social media platform Truth Social, stating that “The LA wildfires are still raging fiercely, but politicians don’t know how to deal with it.”
He emphasized, “Thousands of beautiful homes are burning and more are at risk of disappearing. Casualties are occurring everywhere.” He added, “This is one of the worst disasters in American history, yet they don’t even know how to put out the fire,” mocking the situation.
Trump has blamed the LA wildfires on the faulty water management policies of Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom of California. On the 8th, he mentioned, “This entire situation is Governor Newsom’s fault. Most notably, there is a shortage of water for hydrants and firefighting aircraft.” According to local media, many fire hydrants in the LA Palisades area have run dry, making firefighting efforts difficult. There have also been reports stating that the Santa Ynez Reservoir is under repair and thus unavailable.
This situation has led to criticism of the state’s response, with Trump continuing to accuse Governor Newsom’s handling of the situation as a failure. In response, Governor Newsom challenged Trump to visit the site himself through his social media on the 10th.
The wildfire began on the 7th and so far has resulted in at least 16 deaths, over 150,000 evacuees, and the destruction of approximately 12,000 buildings. Authorities are doing their best to control the blaze, but the fire remains difficult to contain, posing threats to major landmarks such as the Getty Museum.