Trump Threatens Funding For California Fire Victims

LOS ANGELES, CA — President Donald Trump Wednesday claimed to have ordered the Federal Emergency Management Agency to stop funding disaster recovery efforts for the victims of California’s catastrophic wildfires.

The claim, made in an early morning misspelled tweet, created confusion as authorities scrambled to determine if the president was just ranting or if he really cut off funding for fire victims.

In the tweet, the president threatened, “Millions of dollars are sent to the State of California for Forest fires that, with proper Forest Management, would never happen. Unless they get their act together, which is unlikely, I have ordered FEMA to send no more money. It is a disgraceful situation in lives & money!”

Criticism of the state’s forest management is a subject the president has returned to repeatedly. Last year, he made headlines when he toured the destruction left by the Camp Fire and suggested the tragedy could have been averted if California officials took measures such as raking the “floors of the forest.” He has called for restrictions on commercial logging to be lifted to help manage the forests.

Due to the government shutdown, it was difficult to confirm Wednesday if FEMA would truly cut funding for recovery efforts in the Paradise and Los Angeles communities devastated by the Woolsey and Camp Fires.

As the Los Angeles Times noted, the tweet was sent shortly after the Trump favorite “Fox & Friends” aired a segment mocking the inauguration of California’s new governor Gavin Newsom for his outspoken opposition to Trump policies on immigration.

California lawmakers were quick to blast the president for his tweet. Newsom accused Trump of playing partisan games with fire victims.

“The people of CA – folks in Paradise – should not be victims to partisan bickering,” he tweeted.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the president’s “threat insults the memory of scores of Americans who perished in wildfires last year & thousands more who lost their homes.”

Related: Deadline Extended To Apply For Woolsey Fire FEMA Aid

Photo: In this Nov. 17, 2018 file photo, President Donald Trump talks with Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom, left, as California Gov. Jerry Brown listens during a visit to a neighborhood impacted by the Camp wildfire in Paradise, Calif. President Donald Trump is threatening to withhold Federal Emergency Management Agency money to help California cope with wildfires if the state doesn't improve its forest management practices. Trump tweeted Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2019, that California gets billions of dollars for fires that could have been prevented with better management. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)