CNN
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President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday launched a new round of criticism targeting Democrats over their efforts to suppress wildfires in Southern California, calling rival liberal leaders “the worst disaster in our nation’s history.” He was torn apart as an “incompetent” witness to “one of the disasters.”
Trump’s “Truth Social” post is the latest in a series of attacks by the president-elect and his allies against California Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. Democrats already face tough questions from voters and other elected officials, including from their own party and increasingly from themselves. .
But aides to President Trump and his supporters, including billionaire Elon Musk, have cited misleading and false reports ahead of next week’s presidential inauguration, saying the president-elect and liberal cities and states. The push and pull echoes the early days of the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, when liberal city and state leaders often called off political attacks over concerns. It reminds me of the delicate, high-stakes exchanges I had with the top leaders of the Democratic Party. About alienating the first President Trump’s White House and delaying federal aid.
Mr. Newsom has often clashed with Mr. Trump, but the crisis gripping Los Angeles now poses a unique and more urgent challenge. The governor, who is considered a potential 2028 presidential candidate, expressed dissatisfaction with President Trump’s comments, but said, “I have met with Americans affected by the fires and seen firsthand the devastation. I invite you to join me and others in surveying the damage so that we can express our gratitude.” Heroic firefighters and first responders fighting for their lives. ”
It follows a sharper response from California’s leader when he sounded deeply displeased with Trump’s comments during an interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper last week. , a softer approach.
“People are literally fleeing. People have lost their lives. Children have lost their schools. Families have been completely torn apart, churches have been burned down,” Newsom said. “This guy wanted to politicize it.”
He paused again and added: “I’ve been thinking a lot and I know what I want to say.
“I don’t.”
Republicans have been less hesitant to hold Mr. Bass, who was in Ghana on an official visit when the first fire broke out in California, especially the Pacific Palisades, responsible. They are increasingly using this disaster as a cudgel against Democrats, especially leaders in big cities and states that vote liberal.
The argument of Republican critics boils down to the argument that Democrats, focused on promoting liberal ideological policies, were unaware of the risk of catastrophic wildfires and were unprepared to combat them. – almost always made with little or no actual evidence.
“The California Democratic Party’s far-left policies are literally burning us out. Don’t vote for people who don’t have common-sense water management and forest policies. I’m pissed, and you should be too.” President Trump’s next “special envoy” Richard Grenell posted on X last week.
Musk retweeted the message. The message became something of a rallying cry from many national Republicans, especially President Trump’s most aggressive MAGA allies. Many of them have attacked Mr. Newsom and Mr. Bass over land and water management issues, exaggerating or even fabricating damning details. A mixture of scientific and bureaucratic processes.
Mr. Newsom and Mr. Bass, clearly angered by the criticism and eager to push back, said in a little more than a week that the president-elect will have to decide what kind of numbers they will deliver on immediate and long-term funding. I am also aware that I will have to rely on A year-long rebuilding process.
This problem has certainly trickled down to pro-Trump news outlets like Fox News.
Vice President-elect J.D. Vance said in a network interview Sunday morning that the next administration would like to receive aid from California, a state that Kamala Harris won by more than 20 points in the 2024 presidential election, or about 3.2 percentage points. was directly asked whether there was a possibility of withholding. A million votes.
“President Trump cares about all Americans,” Vance responded, shifting his focus to criticizing President Joe Biden’s response. “I think (Trump) is the president for all Americans, and he’s going to give FEMA and other federal responses a better, better sense of what’s going on on the ground.”
Uncertainty surrounding President Trump’s plans for Los Angeles after returning to office in less than eight days has been a hot topic in recent press conferences with city leaders. Bass said Sunday that while he has not spoken directly to the president-elect, he has had constructive engagement with some members of the incoming administration.
“I participated in the president-elect’s invitation to Los Angeles. I participated with the director and the governor. Yesterday, I spoke directly with the incoming administration,” Bass said. “That was a great call.”
Wind-driven firestorms tear through historic seaside neighborhoods. Hollywood Hills. Further inland, more than 100,000 Angelenos were ordered to evacuate, their homes destroyed and 24 people had died by Sunday in San Gabriel Valley communities such as Altadena and Pasadena, officials said. . Disaster relief supplies are flooding into the area from Washington, D.C., where Biden is staying after canceling a trip to Italy, and Bass said Friday that the Federal Emergency Management Agency has promised to recover all the city’s firefighting costs. said.
As Democrats struggle to balance Trump, the California Republican, little known outside of Los Angeles, is among those who stand up to reporters and news cameras every few hours, perhaps to the public. He has also emerged as one of Trump’s most effective communicators. .
Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Berger (R) has received support from some in the city for her local and national newscasts and updates. On Saturday, she did something that many Democrats hate. They dressed up their request for help from President Trump with words of congratulations and flattery.
In his letter, Berger began by praising President Trump’s response to the Woolsey Fire that hit the Santa Monica area in 2018 during his first term. After extending a “formal invitation” to President Trump to visit the Los Angeles disaster area, Berger effectively explained the political benefits of engaging with local leaders.
In photos: Wildfires spreading in Los Angeles County
“By accepting this invitation, Mr. President-elect, please join us in supporting our people and thanking the heroic first responders who risked their lives to save others.” she wrote. “We also ask you, as president, to work with the people of Los Angeles County to set the course for recovery. Your presence will be deeply felt and appreciated.”
The day after sending the letter, Berger offered a pledge to Angelenos affected by the fire.
“I’m going to work with you all to see this issue through to the end,” Berger said at a news conference. “We will not stop using all our resources to fight existing fires. We will continue to provide the highest level of service to displaced people while meeting their housing, welfare, medical and economic needs. I will go.”
Democrats have expressed similar messages to the city and the fire victims, but these statements have been overshadowed in some cases by flimsy efforts to avoid responsibility for the government’s inadequate response, especially It has been overshadowed in the past 48 hours.
In an interview released Saturday with the liberal Pod Save America, Newsom criticized local leaders and suggested they had not been given “straight answers” about the situation from the beginning.
“I’m the governor of California, so I want to know the answers. I don’t know how many people ask me, ‘What happened?’ —My team says, “What happened? ” Newsom said.
He added, “To be frank, I couldn’t get a clear answer.”
Newsom on Sunday signed an executive order suspending some building requirements under the state’s environmental laws to help fire victims quickly rebuild.
“California leads the nation in environmental management. We’re not going to give up on that, but we can’t afford to delay,” Newsom told NBC News, adding that regulatory red tape will not slow the recovery process. I promised not.
The governor also called for an independent investigation into local water supply issues following reports that the Santa Ynez Reservoir was empty when the wildfires first started, further hampering firefighting efforts in the Pacific Palisades. asked to do so.
California Sen. Adam Schiff supported the proposal and suggested in an interview with ABC News on Sunday that the state “go further” and “have an independent commission review all of this.”
This story has been updated with new reporting.
