In his first TV interview since taking office, President Donald Trump quickly turned to a contentious issue: threatening to withhold federal aid from California unless the state overhauls its water management policies.
With devastating wildfires still raging across the Golden State, Trump argued that the way California manages its water resources is contributing to the intensity of the crisis. He said he wouldn't approve any more federal aid unless state leaders fix how water is being managed, emphasizing that the current system is failing to stop disasters like wildfires from getting worse.
"I don't think we should give California anything until they let water flow down into their system," Trump told Fox News' Sean Hannity on Wednesday.
The comments mark a sharp escalation in the ongoing tension between Trump and California's leadership. The president previously placed blame for the fires on Gov. Gavin Newsom, writing on social media that the Democrat "refused to sign the water restoration declaration put before him that would have allowed millions of gallons of water, from excess rain and snow melt from the North, to flow daily into many parts of California."
Although Newsom has called Trump's claims "pure fiction," the president doubled down on Fox News.
"I asked him, 'Why? How is it possible that you're not allowing this water?' They divert it out to the Pacific Ocean where it drops into the ocean. And you know what it's like? It's like nothing. To the Pacific Ocean, it's like two glasses of water. It's nothing. Millions of gallons of water is diverted way up north in California into the Pacific Ocean," Trump said. "But this is water that millions of gallons of water a week and a day in some cases, depending on the flow. So much water, they wouldn't know what to do with it."
The primary infrastructure for managing water in California includes a network of dams, reservoirs, aqueducts and canals, which are all interconnected. Two key systems are the Central Valley Project (CVP) and the State Water Project (SWP), which capture and store winter snowmelt and rain, then transport water across the state to cities and farms.
The California Department of Water Resources adopted new framework in December 2024 to reduce the impact of the state's two major water projects, CVP and SWP, on endangered species. The decision was driven by ongoing concerns over the ecological harm caused by water operations, especially to fish species like salmon, smelt, and others that depend on the rivers and estuaries impacted by these projects. The new framework gives more flexibility in adjusting water flow schedules, managing reservoir releases, and adding conservation measures to lessen the impact of water transfers on local habitats.
On his first day in office, Trump signed an executive order instructing federal agencies to redirect more water from Northern California to other regions of the state.
Meantime, entire neighborhoods have been left in ashes as the fires, which erupted the week of January 7, have burned more than 40,000 acres. Efforts are ongoing to contain these blazes, with red flag warnings affecting millions of residents due to strong winds and high fire danger. The Palisades and Eaton fires are now considered to be among the most destructive in California.
Although he criticized the state's response to the fires, Trump praised the firefighters risking their lives to stop the flames.
"Los Angeles, that's like a nuclear weapon went off, what's happened to Los Angeles. And you know, that thing went for four or five days. Nobody was even fighting it, because they didn't have any water. Their fire departments aren't funded properly," Trump told Hannity. "And the firefighters were brave as hell. They were fighting without water. I mean, they turn on a fire hydrant, there's no water that comes out. And the fires are rushing at them at 30, 40 miles an hour. Those firefighters were brave."
Approximately 88,000 people from highly populated neighborhoods remain under evacuation orders. More than 12,000 structures have also been destroyed, and at least 25 people have lost their lives due the fires.
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