President-elect Donald Trump had previously warned California Governor Gavin Newsom that he needed to manage the state’s forests better to prevent fires.
In a visit to The Golden State in November of 2018, the then president and newly elected governor both met following the devastating Camp Fire.
Speaking during their visit to Skyway Villa Mobile Home and RV Park in Paradise, California, Trump warned ‘you’ve got to take care of the floors’.
Footage of their exchange has resurfaced online amid calls for Newsom to stand down as wildfires ravage parts of Los Angeles, amid complains about fire hydrants not having water and power lines not being shut off.
In the 2018 clip, he says: ‘Get all of this cleaned out and protected. You’ve gotta take care of the floors. The floors of the forest.
‘You look at other countries where they do it differently and its a whole different story. I was with the president of Finland and they spend a lot of time raking and cleaning.’
In 2021 Newsom signed a bill directing over $15 billion to combat wildfires, drought and other climate challenges facing California.
That climate package dedicated nearly $1 billion exclusively to help prevent wildfires, after the two most destructive on record happened within one year of each other.
He didn’t take heed to President Trump because…well….it was President Trump telling him and we all know, Newsome doesn’t like President Trump, and did it his way. Which was do nothing.