Trump: EPA to hit San Francisco with violations notice over homeless crisis

"It’s a terrible situation — that’s in Los Angeles and in San Francisco. And we’re going to be giving San Francisco, they’re in total violation, we’re going to be giving them a notice very soon. EPA is going to be putting out a notice. They’re in serious violation. ... They have to clean it up. We can’t have our cities going to hell."

• It was not immediately clear which environmental laws Trump believes San Francisco has violated. But is remarkable that the EPA would take such action as it usually sends such notices to companies, not cities, as the Wall Street Journal notes.

What they're saying: San Francisco Mayor London Breed said in a statement that Trump’s comments were "ridiculous," the New York Times reports.

"To be clear, San Francisco has a combined sewer system, one of the best and most effective in the country, that ensures that all debris that flow into storm drains are filtered out at the city’s wastewater treatment plants. No debris flow out into the bay or the ocean."

The big picture: Per Axios' Mike Allen, Trump is also at war with California over the environment, tax returns, immigration and, indeed, virtually every topic he touches.

• The battle intensified during his visit to California this week. Earlier Wednesday, he announced the EPA would revoke California's waiver under the Clean Air Act that enables the state to set CO2 emissions rules that exceed federal standards.
• On Tuesday, as he planned to head to the state, Trump said he's considering an "individual task force" to take on the issue of homelessness in California.

Go deeper: Trump vs. California

Editor's note: This article has been updated with new details throughout.

• "After nearly a month of stonewalling, it appears clear that the President has chosen the path of defiance, obstruction, and cover-up," the letter reads.

The state of play: Several White House officials have told Axios' Alayna Treene that the administration has no plans of complying with the committees' demands for interviews or documents without a full House vote formally approving an impeachment inquiry.

The big picture: The Trump administration's initial refusal to turn over the whistleblower complaint on the president's interactions with Ukraine is what led House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to finally support a formal impeachment inquiry.

Go deeper: Trump letter dares Pelosi to hold vote on impeachment inquiry

• Johnson asked the Justice Department earlier this week to look into links between Ukraine and Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign. His letter questioned the narrative that Biden's actions in Ukraine had nothing to do with his son's connection.
• However, it was also discovered that he signed onto a 2016 letter that mirrored Biden's work to reform Ukraine's prosecutor general and judiciary.
• There is no evidence that Biden's reform work in Ukraine was to protect his son's business dealings, as the president and some of his allies allege, or that he committed any form of corruption.

The state of play: Sondland, a Trump political appointee who donated $1 million to the president's inaugural committee, denied that there was a quid pro quo between the Trump administration and Ukraine's government in a series of text messages that former Ukraine special envoy Kurt Volker provided to a group of House committees investigating the Trump-Ukraine matter.

• "I think it’s crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign," Bill Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat to Ukraine, texted Sondland.
• Sondland texted back: "Bill, I believe you are incorrect about President Trump's intentions. The President has been crystal clear no quid pro quo's of any kind."
• The New York Times reported that Sondland's response came only after he spoke to the president.

Go deeper: House committees release texts from former Ukraine envoy Kurt Volker