Trump: He’ll cut off fire rescue aid from California if Governor Gavin Newsom doesn’t support his policies
During a press conference on Friday, the Republican presidential contender said that if California Governor Gavin Newsom does not support his views, former President Trump will remove fire rescue help from the state.
Why this matters Tens of thousands of people had to evacuate due to intense wildfires in Southern California, which are predicted to become worse in the next years.
“Gavin Newscum [Newsom], is going to sign those papers,” Trump mispronounced the Democratic governor’s last name while speaking at the Newsmax conference at one of his golf courses.
We also won’t give him money to put out all of his fires if he doesn’t sign those documents. And he has issues if we don’t give him the cash to put out those flames.”
Conversely, Trump “admitted he will block emergency disaster funds to settle political vendettas,” according to a statement on X from Newsom.
“It’s the flames in California today. Funding for hurricanes in North Carolina or help with floods for Pennsylvanian houses might be announced tomorrow.”
Motivating the news: In an attempt to win over voters in the Central Valley, Trump has been pressuring Newsom to back a plan that would increase the amount of water pumped from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
Currently, water pumping is restricted to save the smelt, an endangered species of fish.
Current situation: California was set up for devastating wildfires by a dry summer and rainy winter, according to Andrew Freedman of Axios.
Climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of extreme fire weather events.
Trump has threatened to cut off federal funding to California before. While in government, he took action during the wildfire seasons of 2019 and 2020.
Zoom out: During the recent press conference, Trump criticized California as a whole, criticizing Newsom’s policies on immigration and crime while also claiming that the two of them got along “very nicely” while Trump was governor.
