Posting on X, Ambassador Ric Grenell, who is President Donald Trump’s envoy for special missions and is unofficially coordinating the administration’s response to the California wildfires, explained that the Trump Administration is taking a stance of refusing to provide California with support paid for with taxpayer dollars until it gets its own house in order.
As background, California has increasingly disastrous wildfires year by year, yet it has refused to take steps that conservatives say would be common sense and largely help solve the issue. Specifically, it hasn’t engaged in some common-sense forest management processes nor has it focused on desalination and other forms of water access that would help it stay better irrigated.
Posting about the matter on X, Grenell began by slamming Newsom for not prioritizing desalination or other forms of water management that expand the state’s water access position. He said, “In California…We live on the ocean but our Governor can’t figure out how to get more water – so he spends millions of tax dollars telling people to not water their lawns and to take faster showers.”
Continuing, Grenell hammered the state for similarly remaining so insouciant regarding forest management practices and the removal of dead, dry trees of the sort that can cause massive fires. He said, “We have 33 million acres of forest land but our Governor can’t figure out how to properly remove dead trees.”
Summarizing what all that means, Grenell added that the deadly combination of total incompetence in terms of water access and forest management has led to the disastrous, deadly fires that have perennially ravaged California. He said, “When you combine Gavin’s water and forest incompetence- you get deadly fires.”
Emphasizing that point, Grenell noted that a few simple, common-sense policies could significantly lessen the state’s problems, saying, “The Sacramento Democrats still haven’t filled up the water reserves or cleaned up the brush. They are still killing desalination plants and commonsense forest management.”
So, Grenell added, he has advised the president to refuse to provide any taxpayer dollars to California for cleaning up the state until it fixes the major problems currently leading to the constant wildfire disasters. He wrote, “The fires will happen again. I’ve told DJT we shouldn’t spend federal money on California if the problems aren’t fixed first.”
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Then, ending the post by mercilessly slamming Governor Gavin Newsom and explaining what is wrong with him as a leader, Grenell wrote, “Meanwhile, Gavin is launching his 5th version of a podcast trying to re-brand himself to run for President. He isn’t interested in fixing the problems. I pray the Democrats nominate him. He’s a total and complete fraud – and the swing states will see it instantly.”
Governor Newsom, for his part, has attempted to distract from the fires and their causes by attacking Trump for immigration enforcement. For example, he posted in early July, “On the 6 month anniversary of the LA wildfires Donald Trump decided to send troops on horseback to round people up on soccer fields instead of delivering what LA actually needs — the emergency aid that he continues to play games with. What a disgrace.”
Watch Trump comment on what he wants to see California do to fight the fires here: