Overview

• At a televised cabinet meeting on Tuesday, President Donald Trump again claimed he forced California to "turn on the water" during January wildfires, saying he did it "using force."
• Gavin Newsom reposted the clip on X and shared a screenshot of a Grok query asking if people with dementia repeat false statements, which the chatbot answered affirmatively with clinical context.
• A White House spokesperson responded in a statement to the Daily Beast, denouncing Newsom as a distraction and using the slur "Newscum."
• California officials have rejected Trump’s narrative, with the Department of Water Resources saying the military did not enter the state, no "water restoration declaration" exists, and federal pumps were restarted after maintenance.
• The confrontation follows months of friction that includes California’s June lawsuit over the National Guard deployment, as Newsom amplifies Trump-style social media tactics and parody merchandise.