President Donald Trump lobbed fresh attacks on Democratic leaders in California by conflating immigration protests in Los Angeles to the wildfires that devastated the area earlier this year.
The president has called out National Guard troops and ordered the activation of U.S. Marines to assist local law enforcement with the protests against his immigration policies, and he claimed Tuesday morning on Truth Social that his actions had saved the city from certain destruction.
"If I didn’t 'SEND IN THE TROOPS' to Los Angeles the last three nights, that once beautiful and great City would be burning to the ground right now, much like 25,000 houses burned to the ground in L.A. do to an incompetent Governor and Mayor," Trump posted at 8:34 a.m. EST.
Protesters and outside "agitators" have set cars on fire and attacked law enforcement with fireworks and bricks during the protests, which have been centered around a small area downtown, but Trump attempted to blame Gov. Gavin Newsom and mayor Karen Bass for allowing the city to be destroyed by natural disasters and demonstrators alike – and snarling efforts to rebuild through incompetence.
"Incidentally, the much more difficult, time consuming, and stringent FEDERAL PERMITTING PROCESS is virtually complete on these houses, while the easy and simple City and State Permits are disastrously bungled up and WAY BEHIND SCHEDULE!" Trump posted. "They are a total mess, and will be for a long time. People want to rebuild their houses. Call your incompetent Governor and Mayor, the Federal permitting is DONE!!!"
