President Trump on Wednesday accused California Gov. Gavin Newsom of mismanaging the state and protecting sanctuary cities before the devastating Los Angeles wildfires, saying the Democratic governor looked “stupid.” insisted.
In an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity, his first TV sit-down since taking over the White House, President Trump said, “If you actually polled the public, they don't want sanctuary cities.'' ” he said.
“But Gavin Newsom does it, and so do these radical left politicians,” he added. “And when you asked him why, they couldn't even do that — I watched Gavin Newsom try to answer that question. He couldn't even answer.”
“He looked like an idiot. He couldn't answer.”
The president then focused on the state's lack of forest management, led by the 57-year-old governor, and Governor Newsom's refusal to allow rainwater from the north to flow freely into Southern California, two policies that have led to the most destructive He claimed to have started one of the fires. A piece of Golden State history.
President Trump blamed Newsom, saying years before the disaster, “I accepted criticism because I said, 'I have to manage my own forest.'”
“It's like a nuclear weapon went off. What happened to Los Angeles?”
“This fire was just burning, and then it spread to another area, another area, another area,” he continued. “It's been a week and a half and I've never seen anything like this. We look very weak.
“Why wouldn't we want to pour millions of gallons of water a day across California?” he added. “Millions of gallons of water are being diverted and flowing all the way north through California into the Pacific Ocean.”
President Trump, 78, also told Hannity that he wants to tie future federal aid funding to “California, a state that practices forestry science,” and said he would seek world leadership on the subject during his first term. He pointed out that he had learned a thing or two from others.
“A lot of it was actually Finland said this to me, Austria said this to me,” he said. “And the way they expressed it was beautiful. They said, 'We live in the forest.' We are a forest nation. “That's beautiful. '”
“It's much more beautiful and much more flammable than what we have in California,” he noted.
In the run-up to Inauguration Day, Newsom sought to keep California “Trump-proof” and asked the state Legislature for $25 million in emergency funds to cover the costs of his legal battle with the 47th president.
The governor's office claims the large budget request “will ensure critical funding for disaster relief, health care programs, and other critical services” during President Trump's second term.
The Newsom administration also developed a plan under the Trump administration to help undocumented immigrants avoid deportation, distributing an internal memo drafted by the California Department of Human Services last month that said it would provide a variety of guidance to immigrants facing deportation. They are calling for the creation of an immigrant support network to introduce migrants to relevant organizations. Legal and support groups.
President Trump did not say Wednesday whether he planned to meet with Newsom about wildfire recovery efforts.
