President Trump repeated falsehoods about California's firefighting efforts on Friday, blaming Democratic officials for a range of issues affecting the wildfire response as he toured areas of Los Angeles damaged by the disaster.
In a meeting with state leaders in Pacific Palisades, which was heavily damaged by the fire, Trump opened his remarks at the local fire station by praising the firefighters he met during his tour. “Your fire station was so beautiful,” he said, “in perfect physical shape.”
Praise quickly turned into attacks on state officials. Trump blamed local bureaucracy, Democratic politicians and a small species of protected fish known as the Delta confectionery for water supply problems that made it difficult for firefighters to control the blaze. California water experts say many of these claims are false and that problems fighting the fires have been raging for weeks and have other causes.
“They talk about Delta candy, which is such a big fish,” Trump said, gesturing to the space between his thumb and forefinger during a meeting with state officials. “We don’t really need to protect it because it’s in other areas,” he said. “The people of California must be protected.”
Trump drew raucous applause from local Republicans along with Democratic officials throughout the meeting. He accused Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and other local officials of slowing rebuilding efforts by allowing problems and other deficits.
At one point, Bass said rebuilding could not begin immediately because some areas needed more cleanup, like removing hazardous waste.
Trump responded: “What is hazardous waste? I mean, you have to define it.”
In one bizarre exchange, Trump criticized Rep. Brad Sherman, a Democrat who represents Pacific Palisades, for insurance companies pulling out of California.
“You did something, Brad, every insurance company in the country left California,” Trump said. “So you don't have insurance. You make it so impossible and people who think like you -“
“People like me?” Sherman said before Trump cut him off. Sherman later added that insurance companies “are also pulling out of Florida.”
Earlier in the meeting, Sherman pushed back against Trump's threat to withhold disaster aid from California unless the state makes policy changes on water use and voter ID laws. Sherman said it creates a vicious political cycle for approving disaster aid.
“I'm relying on someone in Louisiana to say, 'Because you're living on your cousin's couch, I'm not going to help you rebuild Louisiana until you agree with me about a woman's right to choose.' he said, referring to abortion. right.
Trump also repeated falsehoods he raised in his first administration over the wildfires that burned parts of California in 2018. At the time, President Trump said California could learn from Finland by raking its forests to prevent vegetables. Experts called that criticism equally unwarranted, and Finnish officials said raking leaves and needles is not a typical feature of fire prevention in Finland.