Newly elected President Donald J. Trump delivered fresh criticism early Sunday to officials in charge of fighting the Los Angeles wildfires, calling them “incompetent” and asking why the fires haven’t been extinguished yet.
“The fire is still raging in L.A.” Mr Trump wrote On his Truth Social site. “Incompetent cops don’t know how to put them out.”
Mr Trump’s comments indicate that the fires, and the authorities’ response to them, will likely take a prominent place on his domestic political agenda when he takes office on January 20. He has reignited a long-running dispute with California Governor Gavin Newsom, who in turn has accused Mr Trump of politicizing the fires.
California politicians have faced criticism since the fires began Tuesday, including questions about how well local and state officials prepared for them and how they so quickly turned into massive blazes.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass had to grapple with questions about whether there was adequate warning about the potential for a catastrophic fire, and why there was a shortage of water and firefighters during the initial response. At a press conference on Thursday, she dodged a question about her absence from the city at the time of the fire – she was in Ghana on a previously scheduled official visit – and said that any assessment of mistakes or failures would be “by any body. , department, person “I’ll come later.”
Mr Newsom, a Democrat, has also defended criticism from Mr Trump, who blamed him for the failure to control the fires and claimed he had halted the flow of water to Southern California out of concern that How will this affect endangered fish species?
Mr. Newsom’s press office responded in a statement, saying that the “water restoration declaration” that Mr. Trump alleged he did not sign did not exist. “The governor is focused on public safety, not playing politics, and making sure firefighters have all the resources they need,” the statement said.
Mr. Newsom and Kathryn Badger, chair of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, have invited Mr. Trump to tour the damage caused by the fires in the city. He has not responded publicly to those invitations.
Officials said that by Sunday morning at least 16 people had died and at least 12,000 structures had been destroyed as a result of the fire. Mr Trump referenced that devastation in his post on Sunday.
He wrote, “Thousands of magnificent homes have been lost and many more will soon be lost.” “There is death everywhere. This is one of the worst disasters in the history of our country. They cannot extinguish the fire. What is their problem?”
There was no mention of any officer’s name in his post.