President Trump will make his first trip since returning to the White House on Friday to North Carolina devastated by the storm And California suffers from some The most deadly and destructive fires In the history of the state.
The trip comes as the president left the issue of additional disaster aid for California unsettled.
His first stop is expected to be in Asheville, North Carolina, which suffered devastating flooding from Hurricane Helen last fall. Mr. Trump next plans to travel to the Los Angeles area, where he will monitor the damage from wildfires that have killed more than two dozen people, destroyed entire neighborhoods and forced desperate evacuations.
But regarding the possibility of additional federal aid to each state, Trump struck a completely different tone. While expressing support for North Carolina, Trump criticized California’s Democratic leaders over the disaster response and threatened to withhold federal aid if they did not make changes to unrelated environmental policies in the state.
Presidents have typically visited areas recovering from natural disasters to show personal support and reassure community members of federal assistance to emergency medical workers and local leaders. However, Mr. Trump often uses natural disasters as a tactic A means of unleashing political grievances, Threatening to withhold funds from political opponents, making false statements about Democratic disaster responses, and promising support for political allies.
During Mr. Trump’s first term in office, he He told aides he wanted to prevent money from reaching Puerto Rico after Hurricane MariaClaiming that the island’s leadership was corrupt. After California suffered wildfires in 2018, Trump said on social media that he had ordered the Federal Emergency Management Agency “not to send any more money” unless the state changed its approach to forest management.
Before traveling on Friday, Trump had already offered a different approach to Republican-led North Carolina and blue California.
“I’m going to stop in North Carolina first, because these people were treated very badly by the Democrats,” Trump said in a recorded interview with Fox News that aired Wednesday evening. “We’re going to make this right because they’re still reeling from a tornado from months ago.”
Since the early days of the hurricane response, Mr. Trump has made a number of accusations about the Biden administration’s response to Hurricane Helen It has been debunked by local, state and federal authorities in disaster areas.
False statements They included allegations that the Federal Emergency Management Agency spent huge sums on migrant housing and that it told storm victims they would receive only $750. The series of false claims prompted Mr. Biden to accuse Mr. Trump of spreading “outright lies.”
A FEMA employee was fired in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton afterward He told aid workers in Florida To pass over homes bearing signs supporting Mr. Trump.
In the same interview with Fox News, Trump issued a broadside against Gavin Newsom, the Democratic governor of California, over his administration and threatened to withhold disaster aid for wildfires unless the state changed environmental policies that he claimed prevented enough water from reaching Southern California. .
“I don’t think we should give California anything until they let the water flow,” he added.
State and fire experts have said those policies They have no connection of fires in the Los Angeles area.
During a news conference on Thursday, Mr. Newsom expressed confidence that the Trump administration would continue to reimburse California for disaster-related funds. He added that he planned to be at the airport to receive Mr. Trump, although he did not know whether he would be invited to accompany the president during his tour of the Los Angeles area.
Despite sustained criticism of California leaders, Trump appeared to extend a last-minute invitation to Senator Adam B. Schiff, Democrat of California, to join him on his visit to the state, days after he called Mr. Schiff “a scumbag.” On the day of his inauguration.
A spokesman for Mr. Schiff, with whom Mr. Trump has long had a tense relationship, said Thursday that the senator would not be able to make the trip because of an expected Senate vote on Mr. Trump’s Cabinet nominees.
“Senator Schiff greatly appreciates the President’s visit to see firsthand the devastation caused by these wildfires and the invitation to accompany him, and regrets that he will not be able to join the President in Los Angeles due to the scheduled vote on the nomination,” the spokesman said in a statement. The statement added that the senator will work with Mr. Trump’s team and other officials “to ensure California gets the help and support it needs.”
Annie Carney Contributed to reports.
