As horrible wildfires tear through the Los Angeles area and ravage entire neighborhoods, such as the once-gorgeous Pacific Palisades neighborhood, a resurfaced video of now-President-elect, then-presidential candidate Donald Trump explaining what is going on in California with its horrific wildfires has taken the internet by storm and appeared to vindicate him.

As background, Trump had, during his first term, traveled to Finland and used the opportunity to examine their forest-management practices and how those practices, such as clearing undergrowth, help prevent wildfires. His comments about the visit led to continual attacks and mockery, but Trump remained committed to commenting on how to prevent wildfires.

So, when he appeared on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast during the 2024 presidential campaign, he delved into California’s issues with fighting wildfires and how state policy has led to conditions in which the fires rage out of control when sparked. Namely, he commented on its refusal to build the appropriate water reservoirs and practice sane forest management, issues that appear to have led to the current crisis, particularly as scenes involving wildfires raging out of control go viral online.

In any case, speaking during the JRE podcast episode, Trump, commenting on the catastrophic fires and California policy, said, referring to the California state authorities, “They said, ‘We have no water.’ I said, do you have a drought? ‘No, we don’t have a drought.’ I said, why do you have no water? ‘Because the water isn’t allowed to flow down.’”

Continuing, he described how the state just lets much-needed water flow away, saying, “It’s got a natural flow from Canada all the way up north, more water than they could ever use. And in order to protect a tiny little fish, the water up north gets routed into the Pacific Ocean. Millions and millions of gallons of water gets poured.” That small fish is the delta smelt.

Trump, continuing, noted that the water that was let go could have been used to save the California forests from getting too dry, saying, “I could have water for all of that land, water for your forests.” He added, on that same point about the dry forests needing water, “You know your forests are dry as a bone.”

Then, returning to the issue of proper forest management for which he was so much derided during his presidency, namely the topic of “raking” the forests using heavy machinery that clears away deadfall, leaves, and tinder-like underbrush, saying that had the state done proper and simple forest management, it could save itself billions in damages each year. He said, “They’re not allowed to rake their forests because you’re not allowed to touch it.” He added, “And all they have to do is clean their forest, meaning rake it up, get rid of the leaves, you know, leaves that are sitting there for five years.”