Since Tuesday, Los Angeles has faced historic wildfires that have left more than bodies, destruction, and devastation behind. The catastrophe in California, a state long tied to Democratic power in the United States, is being swept by the flames of a heated political battle on the eve of Donald Trump eyes a comeback to the presidency.
In that toxic blaze, rumors, conspiracy theories, misinformation, climate denial, and partisan clashes burn. They foretell the clash between the Republican president and a state preparing to challenge his agenda in legislative and legal arenas. The civility, empathy, and solidarity traditionally shown at the start of a catastrophe have turned to ashes in this era of polarization and social networks that amplify every idea and drift away from verifying what is published.
Trump, along with prominent allies such as Elon Musk and his son Donald Jr., and the conservative media ecosystem have attacked since Tuesday the two leading Democratic figures in this narrative: Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.
They have also gone after officials like Fire Chief Kristin Crowley, a lesbian who rose through 22 years of service but who has become for them a symbol of diversity, equity and inclusion programs that they denounce as reverse racism against whites.
On the campaign trail they push the idea that conspiracy theories can spread like embers, including claims that ecoterrorists behind the fires sought attention for climate action or that Los Angeles firefighters were short of resources because money was sent to Ukraine, an aid effort that dates back nearly three years to the early days of the conflict and consisted only of surplus materials.
Trump against Newsom and climate change
For Trump, the fires have been an opportunity to intensify attacks on Newsom, whose presidential ambitions are well known and who has already organized a session in Sacramento to craft legislation to counter Trump’s agenda.
The electable leader has even accused the governor of caring more about saving the delta smelt than lives, demanded his resignation, and given him a new nickname blending his surname with a word for contempt. He has revived old battles over water, urging that reserves in the north be diverted toward other parts of the state, including the central valley where conservative votes are stronger.
Trump has also labeled Bass incompetent and has attacked President Joe Biden, falsely claiming that the Federal Emergency Management Agency lacks money. While not going as far as some conservatives who claimed FEMA diverted funds, the president-elect has nevertheless accused FEMA of spending everything on climate initiatives.
That accusation fits with a broader tactic of attacking climate programs, a line of attack endorsed by Trump, Musk, and other ultra-conservative circles that fuels the fires. The rhetoric often ignores or flatly denies scientific consensus: climate change has contributed to environmental conditions that magnify the destructiveness of these fires, even if it is not the sole cause.
Real problems
The impeachment discourse, especially around the mayor, is not merely a campaign of politicization from the right. Many citizens and journalists question Bass, who traveled to Ghana for the inauguration of the country’s president over the weekend, not returning to Los Angeles until Wednesday, more than 24 hours after the catastrophe began. Critics have pointed to last year’s budget cuts to the Fire Department, though the reductions were small, at around 2 percent.
Water supply problems on the first day of firefighting have also drawn scrutiny, with officials noting dry hydrants and low water pressure after hours of intense use in a system more suited to urban fires. Authorities later confirmed that draining a water reservoir that feeds Pacific Palisades for maintenance may have worsened the shortage during the worst blaze.
Esfuerzo de Biden
In Washington, Biden is working to secure financial support for California to confront the tragedy even after his term ends. After approving early-week aid to cover 75 percent of firefighter costs and signing a declaration of emergency that allowed immediate relief, the administration expanded support on Thursday to cover all costs for 180 days.
Biden acknowledged that he cannot promise ongoing funding after the transition and that Congress, now controlled by Republicans, will decide the course. “I pray they keep it going,” he said. “I hope they are ready to help because we can’t afford not to.”
In a Slate article, Nitish Pahwa argued that the conservative reaction to the fires in California serves as a warning of what might unfold under a Trump administration in response to climate disasters. He wrote that this moment shows how the internet could evolve into a space where real-time updates become unreliable, leaving affected people in the dark and complicating relief efforts.
As events unfold, the public conversation continues to be shaped by a mix of leadership actions, political opportunism, and the skewed information cycles that fueled the crisis from its earliest days. The collision of climate reality with a high-stakes political arena remains a defining feature of the current moment, with North American audiences watching closely how policy, media, and digital platforms influence the response to one of the region’s most consequential wildfire seasons.