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Firefighters battle the Palisades Fire as it burns during a windstorm on the west side of Los Angeles, California, on Jan. 8, 2025.
War of words as LA burns
Out-of-control wildfires are devastating southern California, which, in the hyperpolarized political world of 2025, has resulted in a war of words between Republicans and Democrats.
The fires are without precedent, the result of a warming climate, residential development in woodlands, decades of fire suppression that have left a lot of dead trees and dry grass, and powerful Santa Ana winds.
Whatever the cause, the blazes are dire. Tens of thousands have been evacuated from greater Los Angeles as multiple fires burn out of control. At least five people have been killed, and hundreds of buildings have been left in smoldering ruins.
President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Muskseized on the occasion to attack California Gov. Gavin Newsom, accusing him of being behind environmental restrictions that have prevented dams from being built. Newsom — or “Newscum,” as Trump calls him — has put a lot of money into forest management since Trump first accused him of creating conditions for wildfires back in 2019, but the high winds and heat made the fires unstoppable. Newsom has hit back, accusing Trump of playing politics at a time when leaders should be focused on managing the imminent threat.
The fires, and the war of words, are unlikely to end any time soon, but the bigger fight lies ahead, after Trump’s inauguration, when Democrats and Republicans are likely to clash over FEMA, which Trump has criticized, and forest management policies.