In July 2026, amidst persistent smoke from Canadian wildfires impacting air quality in the U.S. Great Lakes region, a claim emerged online suggesting that former U.S. President Donald Trump had posted on Truth Social about directing water from California to extinguish the fires.
A widely shared screenshot depicted a post attributed to Trump, which stated: “I am going to California to turn the GIANT FAUCET exactly 37 DEGREES TO THE RIGHT and aim the beautiful water directly at Canada, under the strong leadership of Prime Minister Mark Carney, where it will extinguish the wildfires almost immediately. Nobody else thought of this—not Newsom, not Prime Minister Carney, not even the so-called experts. They have been staring at the faucet for YEARS and never turned it. I will turn it, Canada will stop burning, and America will have clean air again. Sometimes the simplest solutions require a very stable genius!”
This alleged post, supposedly published on July 18, 2026, was circulated on various social media platforms. However, searches of Trump’s Truth Social account and archival websites for his posts did not yield any record of such a statement.
Further examination revealed inconsistencies in the fabricated post. It lacked the red check mark and white-and-turquoise plus sign typically found on Trump’s verified Truth Social profile. Additionally, the post referred to California Governor Gavin Newsom by his correct surname, whereas Trump frequently used the variation “Newscum” when addressing him on the platform. Records indicate Trump last used Newsom’s actual name on Truth Social in January 2025.
The origin and intent behind the creation of this fabricated post remain unclear.
The fake post surfaced a day after Trump publicly stated he would “hold Canada responsible” for the “unnecessarily invaded” U.S. airspace due to smoke from Canadian wildfires, by threatening to increase tariffs on Canadian goods. He had asserted that Canadian authorities were negligent in managing their forests, leading to annual wildfires that cost the U.S. “billions.”
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney acknowledged on X (formerly Twitter) on July 19, 2026, that the wildfire season was “one of the most intense wildfire seasons in Canadian history due to extreme heat waves and record-breaking dry conditions.” As of July 20, 2026, the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System reported 933 active wildfires burning across Canada.
This is not the first time claims about Trump and a “giant faucet” have surfaced. Previously, he had alluded to a “very large faucet” in the U.S. capable of supplying Southern California with water from Canadian snowcaps. Snopes has investigated earlier claims regarding the U.S. military allegedly activating such a water source for California during a period of deadly wildfires.
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