Since the fires ignited in and around Los Angeles, many residents have returned to their neighborhoods, which are still smoldering, despite the ongoing threat of new fires and the prevailing unrest in the nation's second-largest city. For some, this marked their first opportunity to witness the extent of the devastation as the region, home to 13 million people, faces the significant challenge of recovery and rebuilding.
Fire officials are concerned over strengthening winds this week as Investigators are exploring various potential ignition sources for the large fires that have resulted in at least 16 fatalities and the destruction of thousands of homes and businesses.
The Associated Press reports that in the hilly, upscale Pacific Palisades, home to Hollywood stars like Jamie Lee Curtis and Billy Crystal, who lost houses in the fire, officials have placed the origin of the wind-whipped blaze behind a home on Piedra Morada Drive, which sits above a densely wooded arroyo.
While lightning is the most common source of fires in the U.S., according to the National Fire Protection Association, investigators were able to rule that out quickly. There were no reports of lightning in the Palisades area or the terrain around the Eaton Fire, which started in east Los Angeles County and destroyed hundreds of homes.
Prominent conservatives, including President-elect Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk, have attributed the severe damage and loss of life from the multiple wildfires to the Los Angeles Fire Department's focus on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, as well as conservation efforts aimed at protecting the endangered delta smelt fish.
Trump has not expressed significant sympathy regarding the crisis; he has stated that he could manage the situation more effectively, blaming the state's Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom.
Newsom blasted Trump in an interview on NBC News’ “Meet the Press," saying, “Mis- and disinformation I don’t think advantages or aids any of us.” Regarding Trump's insults to him, Newsom said, “I’m very familiar with them. Every elected official that he disagrees with is very familiar with them.”
Newsom wrote a letter to Trump inviting him to come to his state and tour the destruction.
“The root cause is climate change,” said Julie May, senior scientist with Communities for a Better Environment, in an interview with The Sacramento Bee. May said climate change has contributed to periods of heavy rain — which causes plant life to grow — followed by extended periods of drought — which dries those plants out, turning them into perfect fire fuel, leading Southern California to its current tinderbox state.
Major weather monitoring agencies have confirmed that 2024 is the hottest year recorded in global history. Notably, four out of six agencies indicated that it marks the first full year in which Earth exceeded a warming threshold considered critical for mitigating the most severe effects of climate change.
Hugo Balta is the executive editor of the Fulcrum, and the publisher of the Latino News Network. An award-winning news veteran, the only two-term president of the National Associaton of Hispanic Journalists was recently recognized by Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks with U.S. President Donald Trump during a Cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House on May 27, 2026 in Washington, D.C. Trump met with his Cabinet days after saying a peace deal with Iran was“ largely negotiated” amid expectations around the re-opening the Strait of Hormuz.
The worst deal in the history of deals
As a former Republican, sometimes it’s fun to look back on the things we — I was part of a “we” at one time — criticized Democrats for, and not all that long ago.
Remember, if you will, when Republicans condemned former President Bill Clinton for pardoning his brother and his corrupt donor friend Marc Rich?
Or, remember when Republicans wagged their fingers at former President Barack Obama’s golf outings? Or his executive orders? Or his Syrian “red line”?
Or all the times Republicans went after former President Joe Biden’s gaffes?
While those criticisms may have been justified at the time, they look patently ridiculous next to our current president’s cartoonish and downright dangerous offenses.
Offenses like pardoning Jan. 6 insurrectionists — nearly 100 of whom have gone on to be arrested for, charged with, or convicted of crimes separate from the events of that day.
Or wreaking havoc on the global economy by instituting reckless tariffs on friends, neighbors, and enemies alike?
Or taking a proverbial sledge hammer to countless government agencies that have put every American in danger, whether on airplanes, in hospitals, at job sites, or in natural disasters.
That’s just a few, but nothing looks worse next to his predecessors than Donald Trump’s supposed Iran deal, at least as it’s outlined in the Memorandum of Understanding, the details of which Trump was loath to share.
And for good reason — they are shockingly bad and humiliating for the U.S.
I remember Obama’s Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA from 2015 very well. I, along with many Republicans as well as a cadre of foreign policy experts, criticized that deal for its obvious and problematic concessions to a very bad actor who we’ve long known could not be trusted. But trust was what we gave the Iranian regime, as well as sudden access to a boatload of cash — $100 billion, to be exact.
All of Obama’s provisions were temporary, which would allow Iran to restart enriching uranium upon their sunset; the deal didn’t address Iran’s ballistic missiles, or its funding of terrorist proxies like Hezbollah and Hamas; the supposed “anytime, anywhere” inspections came with a 24-day delay, if Iran so chose, giving them ample time to hide any suspect materials; and it didn’t require any congressional authority.
In short, I’d argue it wasn’t a great deal. But as bad as it was, it looks like the Magna Carta next to Trump’s.
Trump’s deal would give Iran immediate sanction relief and access to $300 billion, presumably to use to fund terror proxies; it doesn’t secure any upfront limits on uranium enrichment or missile development; it allows Iran to charge for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz in the future; and it calls for Israel to stop its attacks on Hezbollah, another win for Iran.
Neither Americans nor the Middle East are safer than we were 100-plus days ago when Trump decided to pursue this folly. And in fact, our economy is weaker for it. But Iran is unquestionably stronger and more emboldened.
They’ve seen Trump’s weakness, unseriousness, and frighteningly limited appreciation for history. They’ve seen him retreat on most of his core threats to the regime, from bombing their cultural sites to ending a civilization overnight. And they’ve taken notice as he’s abandoned the promises that were supposedly central to his justification for war in the first place — regime change, liberating the Iranian people, and removing Iran’s nuclear materials.
What a waste of blood and treasure, not to mention American might and power, only so that our enemies can watch us limp desperately toward a conclusion that’s being described — by the right — as “unthinkable,” “appeasement,” and “the worst foreign policy blunder in decades.”
S.E. Cupp is the host of "S.E. Cupp Unfiltered" on CNN.