Outrageous Noise as California Fires Spread
Malcolm Ferguson
January 24, 2025/1:06 p.m. ET
... Voter ID law has nothing to do with the wildfires, or with getting federal assistance to California—it’s just one of many demands Republicans want California to meet before they dole out the funds they’ve been dangling over the state.
When asked moments later about the requirement, Trump seemed to imply that there would be no conditions on aid to North Carolina, which is still recovering from Hurricane Helene. But California was a different story: “In California, I have a condition. We want them to have voter ID,” he reiterated.
On Trump’s desire for the water to “come down into Los Angeles”: The president has repeatedly accused the California state government of refusing to send water from Northern California to fight the fires, saying that they’re ignoring Southern California to protect the delta smelt, a kind of fish ...
It’s nowhere near as simple as he describes it, and there is no “valve.” The hydrants were overworked, not shut off. Nor did the smelt have anything to do with the lack of water to the south—high demand and low pressure did. “There’s literally no real connection between the fires in Southern California and delta smelt protections,” said the Center for Biological Diversity’s John Buse.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/california-wildfires-trump-los-angeles-live-updates-b2686002.html