Trump Blames California Wildfires on Democrat Gavin Newsom: 'He Wanted to Protect Essentially Worthless Fish'

The wildfires in Los Angeles, which have caused approximately 37,000 residents to evacuate their homes, continue with no end in sight. As authorities try to get the blazing flames under control, President-elect Donald Trump is turning to California's environmental protection policies as the main culprits for the fire, particularly pointing his finger to Gov. Gavin Newsom as the person to blame.

The President-elect, who is set to officially return to the White House on Jan. 20, took to his social media platform Truth Social to lay the blame for the wildfires—which have killed at least two people and reduced over 1,000 buildings to ash— on Newsom's Democratic administration.

"Governor Gavin Newscum refused to sign the water restoration declaration put before him that would have allowed millions of gallons of water, from excess rain and snow melt from the North, to flow daily into many parts of California, including the areas that are currently burning in a virtually apocalyptic way," Trump wrote.

The amount of water that can be pumped from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is limited under federal and state regulations to protect a fish called the smelt, despite the first Trump administration in 2019 declaring pumping more water from the Delta to supply farms will not endanger the fish, The Hill reports.

Newsom and President Joe Biden announced last month new rules to carry water to California farmers, as well as Los Angeles area residents, as a modification to the 2019 Trump-era regulation. Environmental advocates had pushed for the new rule in order to protect fish, including smelt.

"He wanted to protect an essentially worthless fish called a smelt, by giving it less water (it didn't work!), but didn't care about the people of California," the President-elect wrote on Truth Social. "Now the ultimate price is being paid."

"I will demand that this incompetent governor allow beautiful, clean, fresh water to FLOW INTO CALIFORNIA! He is to blame for this. On top of it all, no water for fire hydrants, not firefighting planes. A true disaster," Trump continued.

X and Tesla owner as well as Trump's right-hand-man Elon Musk joined the conversation, retweeting a comment by Libs on Tiktok criticizing a delay in building dams and adding: "Crazy."

But the California governor quickly responded to Trump's comment. The two politicians have had a tumultuous relationship, with Newsom leading efforts by Democratic leaders to "Trump-proof" their jurisdictions, and the President-elect threatening to withhold disaster aid to California over its political leanings, Politico reported.

"My message to the incoming administration— and I'm not here to play any politics— is please don't play any politics," Newsom said. "There's a time and place for that... The precious moments we have to evacuate, we don't have any time for that mishegoss."

The governor also praised President Joe Biden for quickly approving federal assistance for two of the fires, but will likely need more as the full scale of the damage comes into focus. He also canceled a scheduled D.C. trip on Wednesday morning, which would have likely been his last chance to meet with the Biden administration on outstanding requests ahead of Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20.