After spending days spreading misinformation about FEMA not helping victims of Hurricane Helene, Donald Trump told rallygoers in California that if elected, he would withhold federal fire-fighting aid to the state in order to get Governor Gavin Newsom to do what he says.
Trumpeting the potential power he would have if re-elected, Trump promised supporters he would make sure Newsom cannot enact environmental protection policies that limit the amount of water Californians can use.
“We’re going to take care of your water situation and we’ll force it down [Gavin Newsom’s] throat and we’ll say, ‘Gavin if you don’t do it we’re not giving you any of that fire money that we send you all the time for all the forest fires that you have’,” Trump said at a rally in Coachella, California on Saturday afternoon.
“It’s not hard to do,” he added.
Trump’s promise to withhold emergency federal aid in that instance coincides with his recent tirade of misinformation about the federal agency not doing enough to provide support to victims of hurricanes in North Carolina.
The former president falsely accused FEMA of withholding disaster relief to citizens, only giving them $750, but giving “tens of billions of dollars” to foreign countries and migrants.
Hurricane survivors get an initial $750 after applying for Serious Needs Assistance which is meant to cover essential needs like food, water and medication. They can qualify for further financial assistance through other FEMA programs.
There is also no factual basis that federal assistance funding is being diverted to support migrants.
Trump has also been highly critical of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’s response to hurricane victims, accusing both of not doing enough to show victims support, visiting impacted areas and more.
Yet, the former president had seemingly no problem, joking or not, about withholding federal assistance to a state if he didn’t get his way – something he was accused of doing while in office.
A former Trump administration official, Mark Harvey, told Politico that Trump delayed approving disaster aid for California while it was experiencing wildfires in 2018 because of the state’s traditionally Democrat-leaning politics.
Harvey claimed that Trump ultimately decided to do so after he pulled voting results to show Trump the area being affected by the wildfires voted for Trump.