President Donald Trump hints at possibly withholding wildfire aid to California
President Donald Trump on Wednesday, June 18, hinted at the possibility that his latest feud with Gov. Gavin Newsom over mass federal immigration raids – and the use of military troops to protect federal buildings and agents as they carry out those enforcement actions – could impact additional wildfire aid to California.
Asked by a reporter if his latest “dust-ups” with Newsom could impact relief aid to help California recover from the devastating January wildfires, Trump said, “Yeah, maybe.”
“Hatred is never a good thing in politics,” Trump went on to say. “When you don’t like somebody, you don’t respect somebody, it’s harder for that person to get money if you’re on top.”
Newsom responded shortly after, posting on his X social media account that “sucking up to the president should not be a requirement for him to do the right thing for the American people.”
“Only a truly disturbed person would threaten to withhold aid from victims because they don’t like someone,” Newsom added.
In February, the governor requested nearly $40 billion in additional aid from the federal government in response to the Southern California wildfires.
Asked about the status of California’s request, a White House spokesperson last week referred to a recent Trump Oval Office address, where the president said his administration will be “phasing out” the Federal Emergency Management Agency after hurricane season ends in November. Trump said he wants states to “wean off of FEMA” and wants disaster relief efforts to be more state-led.
At the same time, Trump recently approved disaster declarations for other states, including Missouri, a state with a Republican supermajority that was hit with devastating tornadoes, storms and flooding in April and May.
This is not the first time Trump has considered withholding aid to California because of the state’s politics. He reportedly weighed doing the same in 2018, after California suffered another brutal wildfire season, but changed his mind after being shown voter registration data from Orange County where more voters were registered Republican than Democrat.
Fast forward to 2025.
Whether the latest standoff between Trump and Newsom over the president’s immigration policies will indeed impact wildfire aid to California remains to be seen.
There appeared to be a cooling-off period between the two during the January wildfires, with Newsom greeting Trump on the tarmac when the president arrived in Southern California to tour the Palisades area and Trump temporarily refraining from referring to the governor as “Newscum,” a moniker he has resumed using as of late.
But when the Trump administration ramped up federal immigration raids in the L.A. area on June 6, and later responded to protests by deploying thousands of National Guard troops to the area over the objections of Newsom, the state of California sued. Typically, the governor has control over their state’s National Guard troops, and it’s rare for a president to deploy National Guard members without the request or consent of a governor.
A federal judge last week determined that Trump’s federalization of the National Guard was illegal. But the Trump administration immediately challenged the ruling.
Three other judges on an appeals panel heard the case Tuesday but has yet to render a decision.