California Governor Gavin Newsom wrote a letter inviting incoming President Trump to visit the fire damage that affected the Los Angeles area.
Newsom recently met with President Biden to discuss his state’s request for a major disaster declaration in the aftermath of the devastating fires in the Los Angeles area.
Biden has approved the declaration from Newsom, with a commitment to cover California’s expenses related to the damage for a duration of six months. As Biden prepares to leave office in a matter of days, Newsom is confronted with the challenging task of federal aid disaster relief and rebuilding initiatives with incoming president Trump.
Trump has previously insulted Newsom, with recent criticisms of blaming him for not responding to the past water issue in California, as it relates to the LA area wildfires. Newsom recently fired back at Trump’s personal attacks concerning the wildfire, accusing him of dehumanizing the crisis as a political weapon.
“People are literally fleeing. People have lost their lives. Kids have lost their schools. Families completely torn asunder. Churches burned down. This guy wanted to politicize it,” a disbelief Newsom said on CNN.
“I have a lot of thoughts, and I know what I want to say — and I won’t,” he added.
Trump’s relationship with California Governor Newsom has been fraught, as Trump has consistently scrutinized and denied disaster relief in the past to areas governed by Democrats.
In an October 2024 E&E News article, Mark Harvey, who served as Trump’s senior director for resilience policy on the National Security Council staff, stated that Trump initially declined to approve disaster aid for California following the 2018 deadly wildfires due to the state’s Democratic leanings.
Harvey mentioned that Trump reconsidered his stance after he retracted the voting results, revealing that the severely impacted Orange County, California, had a greater number of Trump supporters than the whole state of Iowa.
Kevin Carroll, who served as a senior counselor to Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly during Trump’s administration, also stated that Trump didn’t want to give aid to California and Puerto Rico because they didn’t vote for him.
Aftermath from the wildfire damage in Malibu, California; Photo Credit: Fox 11 News LA
E&E News revealed in an investigative article that Trump postponed a $37 million federal disaster aid request in 2020 from Washington Governor Jay Inslee, aimed at assisting Washingtonians impacted by a wildfire, due to a contentious personal dispute with Inslee.
It was to the point that Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a Republican from the wildfire-affected region in Washington state, urged Trump on multiple occasions to authorize disaster assistance and sent him an urgent letter on December 31, 2020.
“People in my district need support, and I implore you to move forward in providing it to those who have been impacted by devastating wildfires,” she wrote.
President Joe Biden granted Inslee’s request two weeks after assuming office. Five months following Trump’s departure from office, McMorris Rodgers put forth a bill mandating that presidents respond to governors’ requests for disaster aid within a 30-day timeframe.
The estimated $150 billion in wildfire damage will take California a long time to recover.
We will observe what unfolds in the future as to how Trump and Newsom will work together on this matter that has resulted in many damaged homes and buildings and 11 fatalities lost, so far, related to the wildfire.
