Former President Trump would withhold fire rescue aid from California if Gov. Gavin Newsom doesn’t back his policies, the GOP presidential nominee said during a news conference on Friday.
Why it matters: Intense wildfires in Southern California prompted the evacuations of tens of thousands of people and are expected to worsen in coming years.
- “Gavin Newscum [Newsom] is going to sign those papers,” Trump said during the Newsmax conference held at one of his golf clubs, mispronouncing the Democratic governor’s last name.
- “And if he doesn’t sign those papers, we won’t give him money to put out all his fires. And if we don’t give him the money to put out those fires, he’s got problems.”
The other side: Trump “admitted he will block emergency disaster funds to settle political vendettas,” Newsom said in a statement on X.
- “Today it’s California’s wildfires. Tomorrow it could be hurricane funding for North Carolina or flooding assistance for homeowners in Pennsylvania.”
Driving the news: Trump, currently trying to appeal to Central Valley voters, has pushed Newsom to support a policy that would pump more water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
State of play: A wet winter followed by a dry summer in California primed the region for destructive wildfires, Axios’ Andrew Freedman reported.
- Extreme fire weather conditions are becoming more common and more severe because of climate change.
- This isn’t the first time Trump has threatened to withhold federal aid to California. He did so while in office during 2019 and 2020 wildfire seasons.
Zoom out: Trump critiqued California as a whole during the recent news conference, bashing how Newsom has handled crime and immigration but also saying he and Newsom treated each other “very nicely” while Trump was in office.
Go deeper: California fires hit air quality as 64 blazes burn in U.S. West
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