Trump says military 'turned on the water' in California. State officials say that's false.
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Trump greeted by Newsom in Los Angeles ahead of wildfires tour
President Donald Trump was greeted by Gov. Gavin Newsom in Los Angeles to tour areas hit by the deadly wildfires.
California officials said late Monday that the U.S. military did not enter the state and release a large flow of water, as President Donald Trump had earlier claimed in the latest back-and-forth between Trump and the state over water resources.
Trump, who visited fire-ravaged parts of Los Angeles last week, wrote Monday night on Truth Social that "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."
"The days of putting a Fake Environmental Argument, over PEOPLE, are over," he said. "Enjoy the water, California!!!"
Soon the California Department of Water Resources shot back, saying "The military did not enter California."
Instead, the agency said, the federal government "restarted federal water pumps after they were offline for maintenance for three days," adding: "State water supplies in Southern California remain plentiful."
The exchange comes after Trump visited scorched parts of Los Angeles on Friday and signed an executive order that demands federal and state officials deliver more water and other resources to help combat wildfires in Southern California.
The wide-ranging executive order signed on Sunday ordered the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, a national agency, to deliver more water through the Central Valley Project, a network of dams, canals and other infrastructure. And his administration said the delivery should come even if it conflicts with state or local laws.
The order calls on the interior and commerce secretaries to zero in on "activities that unduly burden efforts" to move water around the state, and directs the White House to see whether it can attach conditions on federal aid to California to ensure cooperation.
Last week, during his first day in office, the president signed an executive order directing federal agencies 'to route more water" from across California instead of trying to protect smelt, a tiny fish on the Endangered Species List.
Trump has criticized the state for its handling of the recent wildfires that have burned over 37,000 acres of land, destroyed thousands of structures and killed at least 28 people. The president was among those who chastised officials after some fire hydrants ran dry in Los Angeles. State and local officials have said the water system was overwhelmed and was not designed to deal with the massive scale of the recent fires.
While touring the damage sites in Los Angeles on Friday, Trump said he hadn't seen anything like it.
"I didn't realize. I saw a lot of bad things on television, but the extent of it, the size of it. We flew over it," Trump said. "It is devastation. It's incredible. It's really an incineration."
Contributing: Terry Collins, USA TODAY
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