Trump has long portrayed California as a liberal bastion that puts environmentalism ahead of its residents. Most recently, he has taken aim at the endangered Delta smelt fish, which is protected by laws that Trump claims hinders the state’s ability to provide water to its residents or tamp down fires.

"I just want voter ID to start, and I want the water to be released, and they're going to get a lot of help from the U.S.," Trump said during a visit to North Carolina. On Wednesday Trump threatened to withhold aid and repeated a false claim that California Governor Gavin Newsom and other officials had refused to provide water from the northern part of the state to fight the fires.