Donald Trump denies California help against wildfires

While fires in California continue to burn large areas and endanger people, US President Donald Trump is now threatening to withdraw aid from Washington. In his first TV interview as a newly sworn-in president, Trump tied federal firefighting aid to conditions: “I don’t think we should give California anything until they drain the water,” Trump told Fox News. Trump’s criticism of California’s water management is not new – and, according to US media, experts have rejected it as wrong.

A good two weeks ago, wildfires broke out in and around Los Angeles, in which at least 28 people have died and, according to estimates, more than 15,000 buildings have been destroyed. While the largest fires are now largely under control, a new fire broke out in the region only on Wednesday. Over the past few weeks there have been repeated reports of dry hydrants making fire-fighting work more difficult.

Republican Trump praised California’s firefighters as “courageous” in the interview. But he railed against the state’s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom. According to the Washington Post newspaper and CNN, Trump falsely claimed that Newsom refused to allow water from northern California to flow into the Los Angeles area to protect fish stocks. The extent of the fires was not caused by a lack of water from Northern California, it said. Los Angeles does not get its water from there, the newspaper added, citing experts.

Tying federal aid to conditions in the event of natural disasters is not common practice in the USA, emphasized the Washington Post. Under President Joe Biden, aid was approved for mostly Republican-run states after hurricanes.

According to US media, Trump is expected in California on Friday, where he plans to visit areas affected by the fires. It was initially unclear whether Trump would meet Governor Newsom.