Earlier this month, California Governor Gavin Newsom publicly reached out to United States President Donald Trump for support in helping Los Angeles recover from devastating wildfires as the city prepares to host the 2028 Olympics. Despite Newsom’s earlier commendation of Trump for his role in securing the Olympics, stating it was “an opportunity for him to shine,” Trump has continued to spread misinformation about the situation. Newsom acknowledged, “President Donald Trump was helpful in getting the Olympics to the United States of America — to get it down here in LA. We thank him for that. This is an opportunity for him to shine, for this country to shine, for California and this community to shine,” as he said earlier this month. “That’s why we’re already organizing a Marshall plan. We already have a team looking, reimagining LA 2.0, and we’re making sure everyone’s included.”
Despite these remarks, Trump has persisted in making false claims, suggesting to Sean Hannity on Fox News that he might withhold aid from California until the state allowed water to flow freely, perpetuating the false notion that state officials were intentionally blocking Northern California water from reaching Los Angeles. “Look, Gavin’s got one thing he can do,” Trump stated according to the New York Times. “He can release the water that comes from the north. There is massive amounts of water, rainwater and mountain water, that comes, too, with the snow, comes down as it melts… they’re releasing it into the Pacific Ocean.” Trump further claimed that Los Angeles had an abundance of water available but was mismanaged through a supposed “valve.”
He added during a press conference, “Los Angeles has massive amounts of water available to it. All they have to do is turn the valve, and that’s the valve coming back from and down from the Pacific Northwest, where millions of gallons of water… pours into California… And they turned it off.” Following this, Trump boasted that he had utilized the “United States Military” and “emergency powers” to “turn the water on,” proclaiming, “The United States Military just entered the Great State of California and, under Emergency Powers, TURNED ON THE WATER flowing abundantly from the Pacific Northwest, and beyond. The days of putting a Fake Environmental argument over the PEOPLE are OVER. Enjoy the water, California!!!” in a post on Truth Social here.
However, this assertion has been debunked by the California Department of Water Resources, which clarified, “The military did not enter California. The federal government restarted federal water pumps after they were offline for maintenance for three days. State water supplies in Southern California remain plentiful.” Additionally, California officials issued a fact-check refuting Trump’s claim about a “valve” controlling water flow, stating, “Scientists, water managers, state leaders, and experts throughout the state are calling out the federal administration’s ongoing misinformation campaign on water management in California,” as noted on the state’s website. “There is no spigot to magically make water appear at a wildfire, despite the administration’s false claims.” Clearly, Trump has been caught in a lie, and California authorities are holding him accountable.
