President Donald Trump complained Wednesday that California can't be trusted with forest fire management — and then Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) reminded him that the people in charge of that were called away on Trump's orders.
Trump made the comments in response to questions about whether the standoff between himself and Newsom over mass deportations could affect federal wildfire relief for the state.
"Sure, maybe," said Trump. "The man's incompetent. You clean the floor of your forest, and you won't have any forest fires."
The president has made similar comments many times, at one point during his first term drawing widespread mockery and a rebuke from the Finnish government for claiming California needs to "rake" its forests to stop fires, like they supposedly do in Finland.
Regardless, Newsom provided an easy answer for Trump on why it's now hard for California to perform its forest management duties.
"You pulled National Guard from my command — who were literally doing this work — to stand around in front of a building in LA," wrote Newsom. "Does the President of the United States not understand what his troops do? Is he confused again? Deeply disturbing."
Trump controversially federalized the National Guard and ordered them to Los Angeles to put down protests against the administration's mass deportation and raids of workplaces in the area. California officials have hit back with legal action alleging the takeover of the National Guard was unlawful.
As all of this has unfolded, Newsom has emerged as one of the most vocal critics of Trump in state government, attacking him as "pathetic" for repeatedly flip-flopping on whether to step up immigration raids against the agricultural sector.