California Wildfires and False Claims by President Trump
President-elect Donald Trump made false and misleading claims blaming California’s governor and President Biden for the devastating wildfires in Southern California. He falsely accused Governor Newsom of refusing to sign a water restoration declaration and blamed President Biden for leaving no money in FEMA for disaster relief. Trump’s claims were debunked by water policy experts and officials. Congress approved $110 billion in disaster assistance, including $29 billion for FEMA, to help with the wildfires. Biden later announced that the federal government would cover 100% of fire response costs for the first 180 days.