'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/2wBDAAYEBQYFBAYGBQYHBwYIChAKCgkJChQODwwQFxQYGBcUFhYaHSUfGhsjHBYWICwgIyYnKSopGR8tMC0oMCUoKSj/2wBDAQcHBwoIChMKChMoGhYaKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCj/wgARCAAHAAoDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAFgABAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUH/8QAFQEBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAgP/2gAMAwEAAhADEAAAAMjhAr//xAAfEAACAgIBBQAAAAAAAAAAAAABAgMEABEFBhQxQXH/2gAIAQEAAT8ApPx8vRnJ3bFRBLWtxr3PlySy7T4NnHNV3Zo0BQnakr6z/8QAGBEBAAMBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQACBBH/2gAIAQIBAT8A00DiT//EABgRAAIDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABAgMh/9oACAEDAQE/AK5t4f/Z'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Amid the ongoing wildfires in Los Angeles County, Donald Trump has criticized California Governor Gavin Newsom for trying to protect smelt fish at the cost of a water crisis in the state. The President-elect took to his social networking site Truth Social on January 8 and wrote:
“Governor Gavin Newsom 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, including the areas that are currently burning in a virtually apocalyptic way.”
Trump continued:
“He wanted to protect an essentially worthless fish called a smelt, by giving it less water (it didn’t work!), but didn’t care about the people of California. Now the ultimate price is being paid… He is the blame for this... A true disaster!”
The billionaire politician wrote in conclusion that he demanded the “incompetent” Governor allow “beautiful, clean, fresh water to FLOW INTO CALIFORNIA!” Trump claimed that the state was also seemingly struggling as there was “no water for fire hydrants” nor any “firefighting planes.”
Elon Musk reposted it on X.
As per ABC, the smelt fish is a kind of small fish that once called the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta its home, and thus was known as the Delta smelt. However, over the years, it has become an endangered species.
All you need to know about smelt fish amid Donald Trump’s Gavin Newsom accusation
According to the Sacramento State official website, Delta smelt’s scientific name is Hypomesus transpacificus, which when broken down means, below (hypo), middle (mesus), across (trans), and Pacific Ocean (pacificus).
The smelt belongs to the Osmeridae family of fishes and its name literally means the fish that was found on both sides of the Pacific.
However, it has turned out to be a misnomer as Delta smelt was only found in the Sacramento and San Joaquin River belt.
Unfortunately, its population began declining in the 1980s and soon it went from threatened to endangered species list and was even placed under the California Endangered Species Act.
Fast forward to 2018, a survey by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife showed there were no Delta smelt in the wild. Four years later, another survey revealed that the agency couldn’t trace any smelt despite 61 sampling days throughout 2022.
Notably, 13,000 Delta smelt were released into the Sacramento River near Rio Vista in November 2022. However, that too didn’t turn up in the sampling.
Experts have held the water policy dispute in California as one of the reasons behind the decline which has seemingly led to a collapse of their only natural ecosystem.
Exploring more about Donald Trump’s latest remarks on smelt fish targeting Gavin Newsom
During a press meeting at the Hill, Donald Trump continued to blame Gavin Newsom for the lack of effective water conservation policies in California.
Surrounded by GOP Senators, the President-elect was asked about the blazes in Los Angeles County. In response, he said:
“Oh, it’s very sad because I've been trying to get Gavin Newsom to allow water to come in. You’d have tremendous water and they send it out to the Pacific, because they're trying to protect a tiny little fish, which is in other areas by the way, called the smelt.”
Trump added:
“For the sake of a smelt, they have no water. They have no water in the fire hydrants in Los Angeles today, it’s terrible thing. And we're gonna get that done. It’s gonna finally be done. I’ll get it down from the federal side. He didn’t wanna sign it. But it’s not gonna happen again like that.
The real estate mogul shared that the wildfires in California were “true tragedy.” However, it was Gavin Newsom’s “mistake” as the state had “plenty of water,” and no drought, yet farmers and firefighters had a hard time doing their jobs in the absence of it, as the state sent out the water “to the Pacific” to get allegedly wasted, which according to Donald is “crazy.”
Trump shared how he had many friends in the region who were affected, such as celebrities in Beverly Hills whose houses were decimated, adding it would affect the taxes of California as these people were some of the richest in the state.
“The Governor has not done a good job. That being said, [we] will work together [well]... we're going to be the one having to rebuild it… I have never seen anything like it. And the insurance companies are gonna have problems as there are big, big dollars involved,” he concluded.
In response to this and Trump’s Truth Social post, Gavin Newsom’s office shared the following statement with the press, including ABC10.
“There is no such document as the water restoration declaration – that is pure fiction. The Governor is focused on protecting people, not playing politics, and making sure firefighters have all the resources they need,” it read.
Notably, this is not the first time Donald Trump has been vocal about smelt fish and water shortage in California. During a May 2016 rally in Fresno, Southern California, he talked to farmers about “a certain kind of three-inch fish.”
“You have a water problem that is so insane, it is so ridiculous, where they’re taking the water and they’re shoving it out to sea. Nobody even knows why, and the environmentalists don’t know why,” Trump said at the time.
Later, after becoming President, he wrote in an October 2018 memorandum “to appropriately suspend, revise, or rescind any regulations or procedures” in the Endangered Species Act or National Environmental Policy Act that would “unduly burden” water services.
However, state authorities pushed back on the same.
A year later, Donald Trump devised another plan to take control of the state’s water usage. However, that didn’t have the House majority vote either.
As per a Cal Matters report of 2019, water pumped from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is “limited” under federal and state regulations to protect smelt fish, which the Trump administration unsuccessfully tried to overturn at the time.
Meanwhile, in December 2024, President Joe Biden and Gavin Newsom declared new rules to transport water to farmers in California alongside LA residents, an upgrade of the 2019 Trump proposal. It came amid smelt fish advocates demanding its protection.
During a September 2024 presidential campaign, Donald Trump warned the California Governor that if he didn’t change the “policy,” he would withhold federal aid during annual California bushfires if he became the President.
Back then, the 78-year-old even went on record to say he would ensure the state received “more water than almost anybody has,” and allow farm owners to have full autonomy.
The current Los Angeles County wildfires have left thousands of people without homes, have destroyed public and private property, and burned down more than 15,000 acres of land. It has reportedly killed at least five people with many reported to be missing.
