WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Donald Trump, in a tweet, said early Wednesday that he has ordered the Federal Emergency Management Agency not to send more disaster funding to fire-ravaged California “unless they get their act together, which is unlikely.”
It was not immediately clear, however, whether Trump’s threat was bluster like other tweets he has sent falsely criticizing California’s fire management, or if he has actually ordered a funding cutoff to thousands of Californians trying to rebuild after the two devastating fires that hit the state late last year.
Calls and emails to the White House and FEMA yielded no answers, with an automated response at the disaster agency citing the partial government shutdown now in its 19th day, an impasse provoked by Trump’s demand for money to build a southern border wall.
The president tweeted: “Billions of dollars are sent to the State of California for Forrest fires that, with proper Forrest Management, would never happen. Unless they get their act together, which is unlikely, I have ordered FEMA to send no more money. It is a disgraceful situation in lives & money!”
He later re-sent the message after correcting the spelling of “forest.” It was unclear what prompted Trump to write, though often he does so after seeing a report on Fox News.
Just before his tweet at 10:25 a.m. Eastern time, the cable network’s “Fox & Friends” program — a Trump favorite — had extensive coverage of California matters. While it didn’t mention the wildfires, it reported on Democrat Gavin Newsom’s inauguration as governor on Monday, prompting mockery by the show’s hosts.
“He’s already inviting illegal immigrants to his sanctuary state — everybody!” one said of Newsom. Another added, “His first order of business: expanding state-run health care, including full coverage to 138,000 illegal immigrants.” A separate report from San Diego had migrants reacting to Trump’s prime-time address demanding a border wall Tuesday night.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment on what specific actions Trump has taken, how they were legally justified and what if anything would be done to help people who are depending on FEMA for food or shelter in the wake of the wildfires.
FEMA is running on a thin staff because of the partial government shutdown. Calls to the agency were answered by this recording: “Due to the federal funding hiatus we are not able to return voice mail messages about general press queries.”
California’s Democratic politicians blasted Trump for his threat. Newsom said they had “been put in office by the voters to get things done, not to play games with lives.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., in her own tweet, called on Republicans to condemn Trump and get him to reassure Californians needed assistance. She said his “threat insults the memory” of those who died or lost property.
Few California Republicans responded to Trump; House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield, one of the president’s closest congressional allies, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Rep. Doug LaMalfa of Richvale, a Republican whose district includes Paradise and surrounding areas scorched by the Camp fire, in a statement said he shares Trump’s “great frustration” with California but added that “threats to FEMA funding are not helpful and will not solve the longer term forest management regulatory problems.”
Both of California’s Democratic senators weighed in to lambaste the president. “It’s absolutely shocking for President Trump to suggest he would deny disaster assistance to communities destroyed by wildfire,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein said in a statement. “Attacking victims is yet another low for this president.”
“We should work together to mitigate these fires by combating climate change, not play politics by threatening to withhold money from survivors of a deadly natural disaster,” Sen. Kamala Harris tweeted.
November’s Camp fire, which obliterated the Northern California town of Paradise, killed 86 people and destroyed more than 13,900 homes. The Woolsey fire in Los Angeles and Ventura counties left three dead and leveled about 1,500 structures.
Paradise Town Councilman Steven Crowder, a Republican, hadn’t seen the president’s tweet Wednesday morning, but called it “disturbing.”
“I don’t think this is an incident that politics needs to play a part in and I’m very disappointed at anybody that would use this as a political pawn,” he said. “I mean, we had the (most destructive) wildfire in California history. We lost 86 people. We lost 13,000 structures.”
Crowder added, “I’m sure I’m not alone — we lost our home, we lost our business, we lost our community — and I don’t think that anybody that’s been through that would be too supportive of that tweet.”
On Tuesday, Newsom proposed $305 million to remove thousands of acres of forests and brush, expand emergency crews and modernize California’s 911 systems. He also joined Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and Oregon Gov. Kate Brown in a letter to Trump asking the administration to double its investments in taking care of federal land in Western states.
Much of California’s forests is federally managed or privately owned, putting them outside the state’s authority to manage.
Feinstein and Harris, both Democrats, have requested $9 billion in supplemental disaster funding from Congress. Their request was not considered last year and the new Congress has not taken up a disaster aid package. The House, newly under Democrats’ control, is planning to vote on a package as soon as next week.
