President Donald Trump said Friday he will demand that California revise its election laws and roll back environmental policies as a condition of any federal funds to help the state recover from wildfires that have devastated the state. have ravaged the Los Angeles area in recent weeks.
He also claimed that the Federal Emergency Management Agency had mishandled efforts to help North Carolinians recover from Hurricane Helene and suggested that the White House and the Republican National Committee should somehow block Congress. will take over the disbursement of relief funds authorized by Trump took aim at FEMA when he arrived in Asheville, North Carolina, to view hurricane damage before traveling to California to witness the devastation caused by wildfires.
Speaking to reporters shortly after disembarking from Air Force One, Trump told reporters that FEMA, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security, “has really let us down,” though it was unclear what he meant about the agency. Accused or not
“I don’t know if it’s Biden’s fault or whose fault it is, but we’re going to take responsibility and we’re going to do a good job, and we’re going to delegate. [Republican National Committee chair Michael Whatley] Which is fantastic, frankly, and the governor and everybody who’s going to work,” he said. “We’re going to provide money, supplies, lots of money. Maybe you have to shut up about something. You chip in a little something like maybe 25 percent or whatever, but we’ll get it done as soon as possible. And we want to take care of the people of North Carolina.
Trump also said FEMA would not be involved in further relief efforts and instead suggested that Whatley, North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein (D) and a trio of Republican House members would work directly with the White House because The agency “didn’t do that. Work.”
“And we’re looking at the whole concept of FEMA. I like, frankly, the concept that when North Carolina is affected, the governor takes care of it. When Florida is affected, the governor takes care of it, meaning the state takes care of it,” he said, adding shortly that the way FEMA sends “a large group of people” into a disaster zone was “an immediate problem” “something that Never worked for me.”
As he continued, Trump was asked about the possibility of withholding wildfire relief funding to Los Angeles due to city policies that prevent local police from cooperating with federal immigration enforcement efforts. Stops
He responded that he wanted to see “two things” in California before he would support federal disaster relief funding for the Golden State.
“There are two things I want to see in Los Angeles: Voter ID so people can vote. And I want to see the water leave Los Angeles and the entire state. Those are two things. After that, I “I will be the greatest president California has ever had,” he said.
During a briefing with local officials a short time later, the president repeated his call for California to change its election laws.
“I have one condition in California – we want them to have voter ID so the people have a voice. Right now the people don’t have a voice because you don’t know who’s voting. It’s so corrupt, ” he said.
The president has run for office three times and has never won a majority in California. Each time, he has falsely accused his losses of being tainted by fraud and non-citizens voting for his Democratic opponents.
Trump’s claim to be willing to withhold disaster aid for political reasons is consistent with how he dealt with large-scale disasters during his first term.
He often suggested that he would not provide substantial aid to states with Democratic governors if those governors were not “good” to them, and in some cases signed disaster declarations when requested by Democratic officials. I failed.
In addition, Trump claimed that he would soon issue an executive order to “fundamentally reform and overhaul FEMA or get rid of FEMA.”
Before FEMA became part of the Department of Homeland Security in 2003, it was an independent agency created by executive order in 1979 during the Carter administration.
In 1988, Congress established the agency in law and gave it expanded authority through the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, and in 2002 the Homeland Security Act made FEMA part of the Department of Homeland Security.
As such, it cannot be repealed or terminated by executive order.
