President Donald Trump hints at possibly withholding wildfire aid to California
President Donald Trump on Wednesday June hinted at the possibility that his latest feud with Gov Gavin Newsom over mass federal immigration raids and the use of military troops to protect federal buildings and agents as they carry out those enforcement actions could impact additional wildfire aid to California Petitioned by a reporter if his latest dust-ups with Newsom could impact relief aid to help California recover from the devastating January wildfires Trump noted Yeah maybe Related Articles Evacuation warning lifted as crews continue to battle fire in Antioch New bill would ban cancerous chemicals from California firefighters gear All evacuation orders lifted as crews fully contain fire in San Jose foothills Firefighters contain Mission Fire east of I- near Fremont Powerball winner investors snatch up homesites in Southern California fire zones Hatred is never a good thing in politics Trump went on to say When you don t like somebody you don t respect somebody it s harder for that person to get money if you re on top Newsom responded shortly after posting on his X social media account that sucking up to the president should not be a requirement for him to do the right thing for the American people Only a truly disturbed person would threaten to withhold aid from casualties because they don t like someone Newsom added In February the governor requested nearly billion in additional aid from the federal regime in response to the Southern California wildfires Demanded about the status of California s request a White House spokesperson last week referred to a latest Trump Oval Office address where the president announced his administration will be phasing out the Federal Urgency Management Agency after hurricane season ends in November Trump reported he wants states to wean off of FEMA and wants calamity relief efforts to be more state-led At the same time Trump lately approved catastrophe declarations for other states including Missouri a state with a Republican supermajority that was hit with devastating tornadoes storms and flooding in April and May This is not the first time Trump has considered withholding aid to California because of the state s politics He reportedly weighed doing the same in after California suffered another brutal wildfire season but changed his mind after being shown voter registration evidence from Orange County where more voters were registered Republican than Democrat Fast forward to Whether the latest standoff between Trump and Newsom over the president s immigration policies will indeed impact wildfire aid to California remains to be seen There appeared to be a cooling-off period between the two during the January wildfires with Newsom greeting Trump on the tarmac when the president arrived in Southern California to tour the Palisades area and Trump temporarily refraining from referring to the governor as Newscum a moniker he has resumed using as of late But when the Trump administration ramped up federal immigration raids in the L A area on June and later responded to protests by deploying thousands of National Guard troops to the area over the objections of Newsom the state of California sued Typically the governor has control over their state s National Guard troops and it s rare for a president to deploy National Guard members without the request or consent of a governor A federal judge last week determined that Trump s federalization of the National Guard was illegal But the Trump administration straightaway challenged the ruling Three other judges on an appeals panel heard the event Tuesday but has yet to render a decision
