Gavin Newsom is defying President Donald Trump and pulling National Guard troops from the border to start working on wildfire prevention efforts in the coming weeks. California National Guard Lt. Col. Jonathan Shiroma confirmed to HuffPost Thursday that the Guard is moving forward with Newsom’s plan. Earlier this month, Cal Fire identified 35 areas in the state where wildfire risk should be addressed as soon as possible through the fuel reduction efforts National Guard troops will be trained on. In pulling troops away from Trump’s border efforts, Newsom will instead put them to work tackling an issue the president has downplayed. He has also threatened the state with “no more Fed payments!” unless he’s satisfied with the state’s wildfire efforts.

Source: Huffington Post March 21, 2019 20:37 UTC