California Democrats said their state will be in desperate need of wildfire aid — and they fear that President-elect Donald Trump will get in the way.
Trump repeatedly posted on Thursday blaming California Gov. Gavin Newsom and other Democratic officials for the fire. Given his past threats to withhold aid from California over disagreements with the state’s leaders, House Democrats told NOTUS they’re worried he’ll follow through as president.
“I am personally concerned about that,” Rep. Judy Chu told NOTUS.
“I hope that our future president still has a sense of humanity for the people of California because there is not a political party regarding wildfires and disasters,” she said. “There are only people who are in danger, and he would be the president for all the people of America. They clearly need assistance right now as they are losing their homes.”
Trump blamed the fires on Newsom’s water containment policies, saying the governor prioritized a fish over California residents.
“He wanted to protect an essentially worthless fish called a smelt, by giving it less water (it didn’t work!), but didn’t care about the people of California,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Now the ultimate price is being paid. I will demand that this incompetent governor allow beautiful, clean, fresh water to FLOW INTO CALIFORNIA! He is the blame for this.”
The Trump transition team did not respond to a request for further comment.
Last year, Trump repeatedly threatened to withhold federal wildfire aid from the state if Newsom didn’t prioritize water supply to California farmers.
“We’re going to take care of your water situation, and we’ll force it down his throat,” Trump said at a California rally last October. “And we’ll say, Gavin, if you don’t do it, we’re not giving any of that fire money that we send you all the time for all the forest fires that you have. It’s not hard to do.”
That may not be an empty threat: Trump initially denied aid to California after a 2020 fire (it was later approved) and nearly denied the state aid in 2018 over its politics during his first term, according to a former staffer. Presidents have the authority to decide where emergency aid should go, although funding is allocated to the government by Congress.
There’s no evidence the water containment policies are connected to the wildfires, Democrats told NOTUS.
“It’s outrageously ridiculous,” Rep. Scott Peters said. “The issue with the fires has nothing to do with water supply, which is what he’s talking about.”
After Trump’s victory, Newsom focused much of his efforts on sheltering California from Trump’s wrath toward blue states.
Democrats vowed to push for aid to their state.
“My priority is to ensure funding resources are available, especially during these unpredicted disasters,” Rep. Norma Torres told NOTUS in a statement. “These are challenging times, but we are resilient, and we will get through this together.”
“We will fight hard to ensure that we get all the federal aid we need. Congress needs to ensure that they reach those that have been displaced or harmed,” Rep. Robert Garcia said on X.
They also said this isn’t the time for political jabs about who caused the fires, which continue to spread and have already led to multiple deaths.
“The expectation is that the Congress will come through for these communities like we’ve come through for communities across the country, whether they’re in red states or blue states,” Peters added. “Now is not the time to be pointing fingers or arguing about it; we should all be supporting getting these fires out and getting people to safety.”
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Samuel Larreal is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.