Fox News Correspondent Reports Trump’s Own Defense Department Just Shot Down His California Wildfire Claim

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The Escher drawing metaphor for the Trump administration and Fox News added a unique layer Tuesday morning when Jennifer Griffin reported that US Defense officials contradicted comments made by President Donald Trump, insisting that the water had been “turned on” in California at his behest. Yes, the same Defense Department led by recently conformed Secretary Pete Hegseth —who was Griffin’s opinion-based colleague until just a few months ago.

At issue, of course, is how wildfire-ravaged Los Angeles can best fight the disastrous fires that have blazed through multiple LA neighborhoods. Trump has long and rather baselessly insisted that there is a magical “water main” in Northern California that needed to be turned on that would allow millions of gallons of water to protect the dry vegetation from becoming kindling for such wildfires.

While Governor Gavin Newsom (D) has insisted these claims were false, Trump insisted via social media that the “United States Military just entered the Great State of California and, under Emergency Powers, TURNED ON THE WATER,” in a late Monday Truth Social post.

The United States Military just entered the Great State of California and, under Emergency Powers, TURNED ON THE WATER flowing abundantly from the Pacific Northwest, and beyond. The days of putting a Fake Environmental argument, over the PEOPLE, are OVER. Enjoy the water, California!!!

In the event that sounds like bizarre hyperbole and absent of facts to you, then you agree with the California State Department of Water Resources. They quickly countered Trump’s claim, insisting on social media, “The military did not enter California. The federal government restarted federal water pumps after they were offline for maintenance for three days. State water supplies in Southern California remain plentiful.”

Enter the highly-esteemed Pentagon reporter Griffin — who cited US Defense Officials concurring with the California Water Resource management office. Griffin quoted the CA-DWR post, adding that US Defense officials told her they “did not send troops to turn on the water in California.”

Now, here is where it gets interesting. Are Defense Department officials showing independence in contradicting the bizarre claims of the Commander-in-Chief? If so, then how does a hard-core Trump loyalist like Hegseth deal with such insubordination? Or does Hegseth give Griffin some grace, given his history at Fox News? We shall see how this plays out in the next episode of “Former Fox News Hosts Try to Govern.”