Trump has often called “terrible forest management” the root cause of these disasters, claiming that state leadership has repeatedly failed to take appropriate preventive measures.
In 2019, during the Kincade Fire in Sonoma County, Trump put Newsom on notice via X (formerly Twitter), saying, “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.”
“Every year, as the fires 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.”
Newsom, in turn, defended, “We’re successfully waging war against thousands of fires started across the state in the last few weeks due to extreme weather created by climate change while Trump is conducting a full-on assault against the antidotes.”
