US President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday criticized California’s handling of the wildfires roaring around Los Angeles, as the state’s governor urged him to come witness the damage in person.
“The fires are still raging in L.A. The incompetent pols (politicians) have no idea how to put them out,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
“This is one of the worst catastrophes in the history of our country. They just can’t put out the fires. What’s wrong with them?” he wrote.
Governor Gavin Newsom, long a target of Trump’s criticism, pushed back in an interview that aired on Sunday but also offered a conciliatory hand.
“Responding to Donald Trump’s insults, we would spend another month,” he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “Every elected official that he disagrees with is very familiar with them.”
However, in a pivot, the governor added, “I called for him to come out, take a look for himself. We want to do it in the spirit of an open hand, not a closed fist. He’s the president-elect.”
He stated that he had received no response from Trump to his invitation so far.
Trump has regularly spat with Newsom, a potential Democratic presidential candidate in 2028, and in the last week, the president-elect revived his contemptuous nickname: “Newscum.”
But, possibly mindful of Trump’s previous promise—in a water management issue—that if elected, he would reduce federal wildfire help to California, Newsom restrained his own approach.
“In the spirit of this great country, we must not politicize human tragedy or spread disinformation,” he wrote in a letter to Trump shared on social media.
“I invite you to come to California again—to meet with the Americans affected by these fires, see the devastation firsthand, and join me and others in thanking the heroic firefighters and first responders who are putting their lives on the line.”
“That’s his style… we take it seriously,” the governor told NBC of Trump’s threat to cut off funding.
California’s state and municipal leaders have come under fire as Trump and other Republicans, as well as people whose homes have been destroyed or endangered, sought answers regarding the state’s preparation and preparedness.
According to state officials, the fires have already killed at least 16 people, displaced 150,000 more, and damaged over 12,000 structures.
“Thousands of magnificent houses are gone, and many more will soon be lost. There is death all over the place,” Trump said in his post.
Despite firefighters’ efforts, the Palisades Fire has continued to spread eastward toward the highly populated San Fernando Valley and the Getty Center’s precious art collection.
Meanwhile, firefighters battled Sunday to control major wildfires in Los Angeles as winds increased, driving the blazes closer to previously unaffected neighborhoods.
Despite heroic efforts, including pinpoint sorties by aircraft troops, the Palisades Fire spread eastward to the valuable artifacts of the Getty Center art museum and northward to the thickly populated San Fernando Valley.
In many areas, the fire had turned houses to ashes and left streaks of molten metal flowing from burnt-out cars.
