The deadly Los Angeles area wildfires were turned into a political conflagration on Wednesday as President-elect Donald Trump rekindled past threats to withhold disaster aid to Democratic opponents in California.
It came as howling Santa Ana winds pushed flames through palm-studded neighborhoods in explosive bursts that left more than 1,000 homes, businesses and schools in chars, with no end in sight as firefighters in some areas struggled to find enough water to combat the surging flames. At least five people had died as of Wednesday night.
Trump put the blame on President Joe Biden and Gov. Gavin Newsom in a broad political attack aimed at everything from environmental protections for delta smelt — which Trump described Wednesday as a “worthless fish” — to Biden’s handling of disaster aid. It could be a preview of his second term, during which Trump has pledged to withhold wildfire aid from California unless Newsom gives in to his policy demands.
In 11 days, Trump will get that chance.
“Let this serve, and be emblematic, of the gross incompetence and mismanagement of the Biden/Newscum Duo,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social network Wednesday afternoon, with an apparent intentional misspelling of the governor’s last name.
“NO WATER IN THE FIRE HYDRANTS, NO MONEY IN FEMA. THIS IS WHAT JOE BIDEN IS LEAVING ME,” he wrote.
Biden on Wednesday issued a major disaster declaration for California, releasing some immediate funds. But Trump will oversee the distribution of that aid and any additional response. The winds are expected to drive the wildfires for at least another week.
In his first term, Trump did delay disaster aid to California and other states based on political spats with their leaders. In one case, as POLITICO’s E&E News first reported, White House aides changed Trump’s mind when he was refusing to sign off on aid by showing him voter registration maps to demonstrate that many Republicans lived in Orange County, which had burned during wildfires in 2018.
In September, Trump said he would continue to use federal disaster aid as a political cudgel.
“We won’t give him money to put out all his fires,” Trump said in a press conference at his golf course near Los Angeles. “And if we don’t give him the money to put out his fires, he’s got problems.”
The Trump transition team did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday.
Trump is bringing back a key player from his first term who has a history of withholding disaster aid from political enemies.
Russell Vought, whom Trump picked to be his budget director beginning in January, helped delay aid to Puerto Rico after a series of deadly hurricanes in 2017. Vought has said he wants Trump to have the power to impound disaster aid appropriated by Congress in his second term.
Trump’s fight with Newsom started over water issues related to the delta smelt during his first term, when he pledged to withhold aid from disaster victims unless California released more water from the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta. He also criticized the state for not raking and clearing forests of trees to reduce wildfire risk, while denying that hotter temperatures and drought related to climate change were fueling wildfires.
When Hurricane Helene and extreme rains devastated parts of Florida, Georgia and North Carolina in September, Trump attacked former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, for his response, while praising the Republican governors of Georgia and Florida. He and his political ally Elon Musk also spread conspiracy theories about what was happening in the battleground state.
On Wednesday, Democratic lawmakers condemned Trump’s politicization of an ongoing tragedy.
“Homes are burning,” California Sen. Alex Padilla wrote on X. “Firefighters are putting their lives on the lines. Political insults and threats do nothing to help families who are hurting.”
California Rep. Brad Sherman urged the Biden administration to quickly approve federal declarations to unlock access to disaster funding before Trump takes control of the White House.
“You never know with Trump because he says this and then he does that and then he says something else,” he said. “It may come down to whether he happens to have a friend who lives in the Palisades. There’s some nice homes in there.”
Biden, who was in California to announce new national monuments, met with Newsom and approved a major disaster declaration for the state, which will unlock some immediate federal funding. He said the home of his son, Hunter Biden, may have burned in the blaze and cautioned that California’s recovery was going to take a long time.
“We’re doing anything and everything and as long as it takes to contain these fires and help you reconstruct and make sure you get back to normal,” Biden said. “It’s going to be a hell of a long way. It’s going to take time.”
Others see a familiar pattern in political skirmishes kicking up around disaster relief.
It’s one thing for politicians to launch media attacks against their opponents in the wake of an extreme weather event, but few are willing to actually withhold it, said Craig Fugate, who served as FEMA administrator in the Obama administration. That’s because they know their districts or states could be next, he said.
“There’s a difference between rhetoric and actions,” he said. “People are talking, they’re making their points, but the system has worked up until this point.”
Reporter Zack Colman contributed to this story.
