How LA fires show the difference between Biden and Trump

On January 9, 2025By Littum

As communities in Los Angeles County burned Wednesday in a wave of wildfires, the crisis highlighted the stark difference between the incoming and outgoing presidents and their relationship with California.

Standing next to Governor Gavin Newsom, a fellow Democrat, at a Santa Monica fire station, President Biden pledged full federal support to the state.

“We are prepared to do whatever it takes to contain these fires,” Biden said.

Hours earlier, Republican President-elect Donald Trump, just days away from being sworn in on Jan. 20, blamed “Newscum and his Los Angeles crew” for the unfolding disaster.

In a post on his social media site, Truth Social, Trump said the Democratic governor “refused to sign a water restoration declaration” that he claimed would have allowed millions of gallons of rain and snowmelt to flow south to the areas on fire.

“Now the ultimate price is being paid,” Trump wrote. “I will demand that this incompetent governor allow beautiful, clean, fresh water to FLOW INTO CALIFORNIA!”

The president-elect’s morning announcement, as communities burned and thousands fled their homes, reverberated his earlier threats to withhold wildfire funding if Newsom refused to go along with Trump’s water policy for California. However, water experts have said that Trump’s water proposal likely will encounter significant obstaclesand that his claims trying to link water deliveries to firefighting were inaccurate.

Although Newsom praised Trump in his first term for approving federal disaster funding for wildfires, the governor has since said he had to “kiss the ring” to convince Trump to help.

Newsom has praised Biden for not playing political games during disasters.

“It is impossible for me to express the level of appreciation and cooperation that we have received from the White House and this administration,” Newsom said in Santa Monica on Wednesday.

Presidents have wide discretion when it comes to disaster relief, which could be in danger in the future if Trump follows through on his threats after his inauguration.

California and other states receive most federal wildfire aid through the Federal Emergency Management Agency, including direct payments and services to homeowners and renters whose properties were damaged, and public assistance for things like search and rescue teams, debris removal and infrastructure repair.

States must demonstrate that an incident is of such severity and magnitude that a response is beyond the state’s capabilities to qualify. The governor must request, and the president must declare, a major disaster and then authorize any assistance the governor requests.

FEMA decides whether a federal disaster declaration is warranted and issues a recommendation to the president. In the past, presidents have followed that recommendation, but there is nothing in the law that requires them to do so.

Trump initially refused to approve federal aid to California for wildfires in 2018 until a National Security Council staffer showed him that Orange County had a close concentration of voters who supported him, according to Politico.

In another example, in 2020 FEMA denied a request to provide aid to California for half a dozen wildfires and then reversed course the next day after Republicans appealed to Trump and the governor and president spoke on the phone.

State Sen. Ben Allen, a Democrat who lives and grew up in Santa Monica, attended Wednesday’s briefing with the president and governor. Allen said it was clear from Newsom’s remarks since the fires began that the governor was concerned about federal disaster aid under the Trump administration. Allen said Biden’s response was remarkably quick and thorough. But he said he couldn’t imagine Trump would ignore Californians in any time of need.

“I have every expectation that the new administration will help other Americans in moments of vulnerability,” Allen said. “That’s what every White House, whether Democrat or Republican, has done throughout history. There’s no reason they shouldn’t continue to provide the same level of assistance and service that past presidents have.”

Despite Trump’s fiery rhetoric, he traveled to California as president to survey fire damage and meet with Newsom. Trump toured Paradise in 2018 in the wake of the state’s deadliest wildfire. And he met with Newsom in Sacramento after a wave of wildfires in 2020.

Newsom and Trump traded blows on social media, in the news media and in the courts during the president-elect’s first term, but remained cordial in texts, calls and even in person. But that relationship appears to have soured during Biden’s presidency.

Newsom has said Trump did not return a call he made in November to congratulate the president-elect on winning the election. An aide to Newsom said the two men still have not spoken.

The president-elect went on to blame Newsom on Truth Social for the flames Wednesday: “At this point, Gavin Newscum and his Los Angeles crews have contained exactly ZERO percent of the fire. It’s burning at levels that even exceed last night. It’s not a government.”

Trump also took shots at Biden.

“NO WATER IN THE FIRE HYDRANTS, NO MONEY IN FEMA,” he wrote. “THIS IS WHAT JOE BIDEN LEAVES ME. THANKS JOE!”

Peter Gleick, a hydroclimatologist and senior fellow at the Oakland-based Pacific Institute, said Trump’s comments, which sought to link California’s water policy to the water supply problems facing firefighters in Southern California, were “blatantly false, irresponsible and politically self-serving.” “

“There is no water shortage in Southern California – the state’s reservoirs are all at, or above, levels normally expected at this time of year. The water supply problem for the fires is entirely the result of the massive immediate demand for firefighting water. destroyed or damaged pipes and pumps, and homeowners are running hoses and sprinklers in hopes of saving property.”

Staff writer Ian James contributed to this report.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.