Newsom questioned over California’s readiness for Los Angeles wildfires 

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is facing questions about whether state officials were unprepared for the wildfires raging through Los Angeles, and whether more preventative measures could have been taken. 

Newsom’s team has pushed back at the suggestions, saying the Santa Ana winds spreading the fires are a natural disaster and that President-elect Trump is wrong to be politicizing the issue. 

At the same time, the story around the state’s response to the fires, and questions over whether Newsom and other Democrats at the local level were unprepared, seems likely to linger — especially given widespread expectations that the California governor could mount a presidential campaign in 2028.

“Whenever a region is unprepared, of course it is the people in power who bear some of the blame for that lack of preparedness,” former California Assembly Member Mike Gatto (D) told The Hill.

“I can imagine that his team would probably wish — if they had their way, of course they would wish that this was not happening at this time. It makes launching any type of national campaign a very difficult thing to do,” he said. 

Trump, fairly or unfairly, has repeatedly sent out social media missiles this week attacking Newsom for his handling of the fires.

The president-elect hit Newsom on Wednesday for not signing a declaration to pump more water through the state to prevent the fires. Newsom’s team denied the existence of the document.  

“There is no such document as the water restoration declaration — that is pure fiction,” Newsom communication director Izzy Gardon said. “The governor is focused on protecting people, not playing politics, and making sure firefighters have all the resources they need.” 

Newsom by no means is the only California official facing criticism. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D) has come under sharp scrutiny for being on an official diplomatic trip to Ghana, as part of a U.S. delegation for the country’s presidential inauguration, when the wildfires hit.

On her way back to Los Angeles, Bass appeared to ignore a reporter’s questions on criticism about her absence and the city’s handling of the crisis, footage shared by The Associated Press shows.  

Newsom and Bass have both pushed back hard at the criticism.

Newsom’s team noted that prior to the fire’s outbreak earlier this week, the governor ordered the prepositioning of assets, including 65 local government fire engines, seven water tenders, seven helicopters, nine dozers and more than 105 specialized personnel through the state’s fire and rescue mutual aid system.  

Bass defended herself in a press conference in Los Angeles on Wednesday. 

“I was on the phone on the plane almost every hour of the flight. So although I wasn’t physically here, I was in contact with many of the individuals that are standing here throughout the entire time,” Bass said. She also noted she’s been in touch with President Biden and other national partners.  

Bass has also come under scrutiny for approving a budget reduction to the city’s fire department ahead of the fires. 

Last month, Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley warned in a memo reported by NBC Los Angeles that the move to cut the department’s budget by almost $18 million “has severely limited” its capacity to prepare for “large scale emergencies, including wildfires.”

Bass said Wednesday that she was “confident” the assessment did not affect the city’s response and noted that “within this fiscal year, LAFD actually would go above what was allocated on July 1st.”  

Other state and local officials across the board are beginning to face questions as well, including the California insurance commissioner, a position that’s up for election in the midterms. Weeks before the fires, current Commissioner Ricardo Lara described the state as being in an “insurance crisis.”

“The idea that there was, from what we can tell, largely a lack of preparation is criminal, and heads should f‑‑‑ing roll for how f‑‑‑ing criminal it was,” Gatto said.  

Democrats dominate politics in California, which makes them a target year-round for Republicans around the country.

In the case of the wildfires, some in the GOP are pointing to that dominance, saying voters in California and around the country should take notice.

“The politics of this moment challenge Mayor Bass. They challenge Gov. Newsom. But because Democrats dominate the state, it also provides an opening for their political rivals and their political opponents to highlight California not as the epitome of the American dream, but as the loss of American hope,” said David McCuan, a political science professor at California’s Sonoma State University.  

McCuan said this is doubly problematic given the results from November’s elections, in which Democrats lost the White House and the Senate majority. It has led to soul-searching in the party about how to move forward.

Put together, the logistical hurdles of dealing with the home-front crisis and the sharp criticism on the national stage “highlights and exposes a vulnerability that Democrats have, when Democrats are still trying to find their footing and their message in the wake of what happened last November,” he said.

Others have defended figures such as Newsom and Bass, citing the unique catastrophic nature of the wildfires.  

“This is a level of something that we’ve never seen before, as far as the amount of property destruction that is occurring, and there are multiple fires happening,” said Joe Salas, a Democratic National Committee member based in Southern California.  

“The government is responding based off of other situations that have happened in the past, and this is a new level of a natural disaster.”  

Newsom has long been a GOP target over issues such as crime and immigration — as has his state, a liberal bastion on the West Coast that’s expected to be ground zero for resistance to a second Trump term.  

Newsom is now among several Democratic governors who have been speculated as possible 2028 candidates, along with Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.

An Emerson College poll taken just after the 2024 election found Newsom in second place behind Vice President Harris, ahead of several fellow governors, in a hypothetical 2028 test — though he notably trailed Harris by double digits.

Newsom “is going to have to learn to live with criticism from all sides, because every move that he makes, well-intended or not, is going to be criticized as one that’s seeking to advance his own interests,” McCuan said, noting “it’s very clear that the governor has been running for president while not running for president.” 

Some suggest the Trump attacks could boomerang on Trump to Newsom’s advantage.

Trump “loves to pick a fight” with him, California-based Democratic strategist Kate Maeder said. But Californians “are tired of politicians scoring petty political points.” 

“To us in California, this is more about the grim realities of our changing climate,” she said. 

Fire hydrants in Los Angeles failed as the fires raged, and firefighters are struggling to contain and snuff out the thousands of acres still on fire as brutal winds hit the area. The Palisades fire alone, which was uncontained as of Thursday, has scorched more than 17,000 acres, according to Cal Fire. Nearly 180,000 residents are under evacuation orders, NBC News reports. 

Climate change, which Trump has consistently downplayed and Newsom has sought to make a priority, is also seen as playing a role in the natural disaster playing out in Los Angeles.

“When they built the Los Angeles infrastructure, they weren’t thinking that 100 mph winds could devastate an entire city,” Maeder said. “I think that every city in America is reexamining their infrastructure … and we have to look at things in a new light, because the changing climate is very real.”