California has clapped back at President Donald Trump‘s claim that the U.S. military ‘TURNED ON THE WATER’ in the aftermath of Los Angeles‘ deadly spate of wildfires.
Around 11 p.m. Monday Trump took to Truth Social to say that he had fixed California’s water problems.
‘The United States Military just entered the Great State of California and, under Emergency Powers, TURNED ON THE WATER flowing abundantly from the Pacific Northwest, and beyond,’ Trump said ‘The days of putting a Fake Environmental argument, over the PEOPLE, are OVER.’
‘Enjoy the water, California!!!’ the new president added.
A little after 1 a.m. California’s Department of Water Resources posted a response on X.
‘The military did not enter California. The federal government restarted federal water pumps after they were offline for maintenance for three days,’ the post explained. ‘State water supplies in Southern California remain plentiful.’
Trump visited Los Angeles on Friday after repeatedly making false claims about the state’s fire response.
The 78-year-old president contends that there’s a giant spigot that California needs to turn on to bring water into the Los Angeles area from the north.
President Donald Trump (middle right) and first lady Melania Trump (middle left) toured some of the devasation from the Pacific Palisades fire on Friday. Overnight Monday, Trump boldly claimed he had ‘TURNED ON THE WATER’
Around 11 p.m. Monday Trump took to Truth Social to say that he had fixed California’s water problems. ‘Enjoy the water, California!!!’ the newly sworn-in president boasted
Within two hours, California’s Department of Water Resources posted a response on X, clapping back at Trump’s brag
He said California authorities – including the state’s Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom – failed to do that to preserve an endangered fish called a Delta smelt.
During a recent appearance on MSNBC, Newsom called Trump’s spigot claims ‘wild-eyed fantasies.’
‘That somehow there’s a magical spigot in Northern California that just can be turned on and all of a sudden there will be rain of water flowing everywhere,’ Newsom said.
On Sunday Trump had ordered the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to deliver more water and hydropower through the Central Valley Project even if the order was in conflict with state or local laws.
Newsom’s office pushed back explaining that the move wouldn’t have made a difference during the height of the fires – as Los Angeles didn’t suffer a water shortage.
President Joe Biden had explained that power outages had impacted some hydrants.
Some residents in the Pacific Palisades have sued over the fact that a 117-million-gallon reservoir built to help the area in case of fires was offline during the blazes.
The Los Angeles Times reported that the reservoir had been drained after a tear was found in the reservoir’s floating cover last January.
Work to repair the cover hadn’t been completed by the time Palisades fire ripped through the area earlier this month.
