As Southern California reels from multiple, uncontrolled wildfires, President-elect Donald Trump criticized Gov. Gavin Newsom for the state’s water policies, saying they contributed to the devastation.

“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,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday morning.

What You Need To Know

  • President-elect Donald Trump criticized Gov. Gavin Newsom for the state’s water policies, saying they contributed to California's wildfires

  • “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,” Trump wrote on Truth Social

  • As of 1:30 p.m. Eastern, wildfires in the Pacific Palisades region of West Los Angeles and in Eaton Canyon near Pasadena have killed two people and destroyed more than 1,000 homes, businesses and other structures, according to California fire officials.

  • “We’re focused on protecting lives and battling these blazes — not playing politics,” Gov. Newsom’s Communications Director Izzy Gardon told Spectrum News in response to the Trump post

As of 1:30 p.m. Eastern, wildfires in the Pacific Palisades region of West Los Angeles and in Eaton Canyon near Pasadena had killed two people and destroyed more than 1,000 homes, businesses and other structures, according to California fire officials.

“There is no such document as the water restoration declaration — that is pure fiction," Newsom's communications director, Izzy Gardon, told Spectrum News in response to the Trump post. "The Governor is focused on protecting people, not playing politics, and making sure firefighters have all the resources they need.”

Trump said Newsom’s water policies prioritize the protection of endangered Delta smelt fish over the people of California. Farmers in Central California have long complained about water from the northern part of the state being diverted to help protect smelt and other endangered fish, damaging their ability to grow crops.

About 98% of the wetlands in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and almost half of its freshwater inflow have been lost, according to the Public Policy Institute of California. The Delta smelt native to the area are critically endangered because of water diversions, urbanization and other issues.

California is protecting the fish because it is an indicator species of the health of the San Francisco Bay-Delta ecosystem, which is a crucial hub of the state’s water supply as well as a habitat for multiple species.

“I will demand that this incompetent governor allow beautiful, clean, fresh water to flow into California,” Trump wrote Tuesday. “He is the blame for this.”