Read the full story in The Hill»
President Trump on Tuesday volleyed a number of attacks at California over the state’s water practices and fire management, going so far as to threaten withholding future federal aid.
Speaking at an address to the White House State Leadership Day Conference, Trump warned California to “get on the ball” with how it manages its forests and regulates water releases from its dams, insinuating that both practices are responsible for a number of the state’s devastating forest fires.
“They have lousy management,” Trump said.
“This is a seriously defective thing there. I thought they had a drought. I didn’t realize. They said ‘no, we have so much water we don’t know what to do with it.’ Then you have all the forest fires. We have so much water they could actually water some of it.”
As of Tuesday, about 48 percent of California’s land — where about 63 percent of the state’s population lives — was experiencing drought, according to the federal government’s National Integrated Drought Information System.
Trump additionally threatened to withhold federal aid from the state as a result of future fires.
