Trump’s Misinformation About LA Fires Fuels Concerns Over Future Disaster Aid for California

While firefighters battle unprecedented blazes in Southern California, Democratic state leaders are bracing for a different fight ahead: a potential clash with the administration of President-elect Donald Trump over disaster aid.

In the days after the deadly fires broke out amid bone-dry conditions and hurricane-force winds, Trump posted more than half a dozen social media statements blaming Gov. Gavin Newsom and local leaders for the fires. Trump falsely tied the urban fires to state water policies and environmental protections for the Delta smelt, a tiny, endangered fish.

Conservative politicians and commentators, including billionaire Elon Musk, piled on, blaming forest management and even DEI initiatives.

However, it’s not just the rhetoric that concerns state leaders: In Trump’s first term, he refused to send disaster relief funds to California until an aide showed him how many people voted for him in one of the impacted areas. Last fall, Trump made a direct threat, saying if Newsom wouldn’t send more water to Central Valley farmers, “we won’t give him money to put out all his fires.”

While President Joe Biden pledged federal support over the past week, discussions are underway between Trump and congressional Republicans about tying future fire aid to debt ceiling negotiations.

Speaking Friday on the Pod Save America podcast, Newsom noted that Trump has politicized other disasters. During his presidential campaign last fall, he spread misinformation about the FEMA response to Hurricane Helene, which led to threats against federal workers. Newsom said Trump has also threatened to withhold aid from other states and territories over the years.

“He’s not just done it here in California. He’s done it in states all across the country. I mean, he did it in Puerto Rico. He did it even in Utah. He did it, I think, in Connecticut. In other states, Georgia,” Newsom said on the podcast. “And so the rhetoric is very, very familiar, and it’s increasingly acute. And obviously, we all have reason to be concerned about it.”

Still, Newsom and other state leaders are trying to walk a fine line, hoping that Trump’s bluster is just that. In a letter to Trump on Friday, Newsom invited Trump to come to California, recalling how he and Trump toured the devastating Camp Fire in Paradise in 2018.

“In the spirit of this great country, we must not politicize human tragedy or spread misinformation from the sidelines,” Newsom wrote. “Hundreds of thousands of Americans — displaced from their homes and fearful for the future — deserve to see all of us working in their best interests to ensure a fast recovery and rebuild.”

Even as Newsom tries to maintain a measured response, California Democrats are preparing for the worst. Democrats in the legislature appeared to reach an agreement to earmark $50 million in state funds for legal responses, including $25 million for the state attorney general’s office to fight the incoming administration in court if it tries to do things like withhold disaster aid. The other $25 million would be for legal aid for undocumented immigrants and legal advocacy centers that support them.

On Monday, Newsom announced he would expand the special session he convened for “Trump-proofing” California to include $1 billion for wildfire response and recovery in Los Angeles and another $1.5 billion to prepare for future firestorms and other natural disasters, a move some Republican lawmakers have been calling for.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta criticized Trump’s response to the Los Angeles fires as “disappointing and unfortunate,” noting that there’s a long American tradition of presidents and government rallying around communities suffering from natural disasters.

“President Biden delivered huge amounts of aid to Texas when it suffered from its hurricane to Florida when it suffered from Hurricane Milton. And that’s the appropriate thing to do. He didn’t stop and say, ‘Wait a second, is this a red state?’” Bonta said.

Bonta supports another proposal floated by Newsom to create the state’s own FEMA-like fund to help support emergency response and recovery efforts in case Trump refuses to provide aid.

“Maybe we won’t ever need it,” Bonta said. “But because doubt has been cast as to whether federal disaster relief funding will be forthcoming, we can’t be caught flat-footed. We should be prepared.”

In the governor’s budget released last week, Newsom proposed putting $4.5 billion in state funds aside for “economic uncertainties” related to the Trump administration, though that amount pales in comparison to what recovery for these fires could cost. Newsom said the number is likely to grow in his May revision of the budget, depending on what happens in Washington, D.C.

Republicans in California argue that Democrats are overreacting. Assemblymember Bill Essayli (R–Corona) said Trump won’t “punish the people of California for the inactions or incompetence of the leaders of California.”

“President Trump and Congress are going to do everything in their power to get the help that’s needed to Californians as quickly and as expeditiously as possible,” he continued.

Essayli said Trump will, however, use his leverage to pressure California to change policies he disagrees with. He brushed off concerns that Trump was spreading misinformation by conflating issues in his social media posts last week, like when he blamed conservation efforts to protect the Delta smelt for problems getting water to the Los Angeles fires despite the water supply being completely independent from the Delta system.

Essayli said Democrats refused to build more water storage facilities and haven’t invested enough in wildfire prevention.

Newsom’s office counters these criticisms, noting that under his tenure, the state has invested in tackling the wildfire crisis like never before, including nearly doubling the number of firefighters and other staff at CalFIRE; committing billions of dollars to wildfire and forest resilience initiatives; expanding the state’s aerial firefighting fleet; investing in technology, including drones and artificial intelligence to help spot and fight fires; and more than doubling prescribed burns between 2021 and 2023.

Essayli said the state hasn’t done nearly enough to clear dead trees and remove fire fuel through actions like prescribed burns — and he blames state environmental laws.

Michael Wara, an energy and climate expert at Stanford University who has often been critical of the state’s preparation and response to wildfires, said Newsom has made unprecedented investments in fire prevention and response.

“Have we done as much as I would like? No. But we have done more under the Newsom administration than anyone in the United States has ever done anywhere to try to reduce wildfire risk after the (2017 and 2018) wildfires,” he said. “The firefighting force in Southern California is the best wildland-urban interface firefighting force in the world, bar none. No one else even compares. The aviation resources they have are the best in the world.”

But, he added, none of that matters when fighting blazes like the ones that decimated communities last week.

“Because when the winds are blowing as fast as they’re blowing — you cannot fight that fire. You have to wait until the conditions change or the fire runs out of fuel,” Wara said.

Wara said there’s blame to go around, though much of it is not at the feet of current elected officials. He cited land use decisions made decades ago about building in places like the Pacific Palisades, an incredibly dry year in Southern California and an unusually strong offshore wind event.

Wara expressed anger at the misinformation spread by Trump and his allies about the cause of the fires, particularly as the fires continue to rage.

“I think it’s really important that we push back against politicization of disaster aid no matter where the disaster is,” he said. “The reality is that the odds of these catastrophic events are going up because of climate change, and Trump will have to confront them in his administration.

“And if this is the way he chooses to, it’s going to be worse for the country. But more than that, it’s going to be worse for the vulnerable people that are left after the disaster. And I just find that really disheartening.”

Newsom, Bonta and Wara all acknowledge that they don’t know how Trump will actually respond once he takes the oath next week. But in perhaps one glimmer of hope, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a close Trump ally and vocal critic of Newsom and California policies, announced he was sending firefighters, engines and other equipment to California — and said he was praying for the victims, first responders and the entire state.