Months before this week’s raging wildfires around Los Angeles that have destroyed homes, neighborhoods, and lives, then presidential candidate Donald Trump made an eerie prediction about Los Angeles’ inability to be able to handle the disaster unfolding this week.
In his October interview with famed podcaster Joe Rogan, Trump railed against California’s water management policies and Gov. Gavin Newsom’s handling of past natural disasters.
“You know, in Los Angeles, you can’t get proper amounts of water,” Trump told Rogan three months ago during the pre-election podcast — as he bashed the state for wasting rainwater that could be used to fight fires.
“In order to protect a tiny little fish, the water up north gets routed into the Pacific Ocean. Millions and millions of gallons of water get poured [into the Pacific],” he continued, referring to the protection of smelt, which he brought up again this past Wednesday.
“I got it all done. Nobody could believe it … You got so much water. All you have to do is sign, and [Gavin Newsom] didn’t wanna sign.
“Every time I go to California, I say, ‘You have so much water.’ They don’t know it,” he added, referring to a derailed 2020 water restoration declaration he put forward.
“I got it all done. Nobody could believe it … You got so much water. All you have to do is sign, and [Gavin Newsom] didn’t wanna sign.
“Every time I go to California, I say, ‘You have so much water.’ They don’t know it,” he added, referring to a derailed 2020 water restoration declaration he put forward.
Here’s a look at the resurfaced clip:
The news comes after Trump for years has slammed California’s leaders for not managing their water — or their fire risk — properly, and repeatedly putting Newsom on notice for his handling of wildfires across the state.
Trump has long supported diverting supply from California’s main water hub, the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, to farmers who have struggled with repeated droughts.
Trump vowed to redirect California’s northern runoff south to benefit farmers during his 2016 presidential campaign — and made good on his promise in 2020 with the federal memorandum that redirected millions of gallons of water.
Newsom’s administration successfully sued to block Trump’s move.
Trump has also slammed Newsom over his failure to remove underbrush and dead trees that can fuel forest fires — though it’s not yet clear whether that was a factor in the latest blazes.
“The Governor of California, @GavinNewsom, has done a terrible job of forest management. I told him from the first day we met that he must ‘clean’ his forest floors regardless of what his bosses, the environmentalists, DEMAND of him. Must also do burns and cut fire stoppers,” Trump posted to X in 2019 as the Kincade Fire raged in the state’s north.
“Every year, as the fire’s rage & California burns, it is the same thing – and then he comes to the Federal Government for $$$ help. No more. Get your act together Governor. You don’t see close to the level of burn in other states.”