Trump calls for voter ID laws, water policy reform for California ahead of federal wildfire aid

On the North Carolina tarmac in Ashville, Trump told reporters when he was asked if he would withhold funding to LA because of its sanctuary city policies, "I want to see two things in Los Angeles. Voter ID, so that the people have a chance to vote, and I want to see the water be released and come down into Los Angeles and throughout the state. Those are the two things."

"After that, I will be the greatest president that California has ever seen. I want the water to come down and come down to Los Angeles and also go out to all the farmland that's barren and dry," Trump added.

Trump issued an executive order on Monday called "Putting People over Fish: Stopping Radical Environmentalism to Provide Water to Southern California." It read, in part "During my first term, the State of California, at the direction of its Governor, filed a lawsuit to stop my Administration from implementing improvements to California’s water infrastructure. My Administration’s plan would have allowed enormous amounts of water to flow from the snow melt and rainwater in rivers in Northern California to beneficial use in the Central Valley and Southern California. This catastrophic halt was allegedly in protection of the Delta smelt and other species of fish. Today, this enormous water supply flows wastefully into the Pacific Ocean.

"The recent deadly and historically destructive wildfires in Southern California underscore why the State of California needs a reliable water supply and sound vegetation management practices in order to provide water desperately needed there, and why this plan must immediately be reimplemented. Within 90 days of the date of this memorandum, the Secretary of Commerce and Secretary of the Interior shall report to me regarding the progress made in implementing the policies in this me"

Trump has long been a proponent of voter ID laws. California Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed a law in the state prohibiting any locality from implementing laws requiring voters to show ID prior to voting. Trump would also like to see a proof of citizenship for every vote cast.