Skip to content
“Then-President Donald Trump refused to accede to Gov. Jay Inslee’s request for $37 million in federal disaster aid, citing bitter personal conflicts with the Democratic governor.”
October 24, 2024
WASHINGTON, DC – Another shocking day in the news that Donald Trump is withholding disaster relief for political purposes. E&E News shockingly reports that Donald Trump has refused to send disaster relief to Washington state where devastating wildfires have occurred, citing political differences with the state’s Democratic governor. It shows. Funding was only approved after President Biden took office, so President Trump made residents wait months for funding.
E&E News: President Trump ignores requests for disaster aid from political opponents
In early September 2020, wildfires ripped through eastern Washington state, destroying tens of millions of dollars in property, displacing hundreds of local residents, and killing a 1-year-old boy.
However, then-President Donald Trump refused to accede to Gov. Jay Inslee’s request for $37 million in federal disaster aid, citing bitter personal conflicts with the Democratic governor, Politico E&E News revealed in a survey.
President Trump did not respond to Inslee’s requests during the final four months of his term, and no one knew whether they would receive federal aid, slowing recovery and leaving communities unsure of how to rebuild. It became.
President Trump ignored Inslee’s 73-page request even after weeks of inspections by the Federal Emergency Management Agency found the wildfires easily met the criteria for federal disaster relief…
President Trump’s rebuke of Washington, documented by internal emails, letters, federal records and interviews, is the latest example of how the former president has used disaster requests to punish political opponents. . E&E News reported in early October that President Trump had refused disaster aid to California after the 2018 wildfires. The state has strong Democratic support…
President Joe Biden ultimately approved Inslee’s request two weeks after taking office (141 days after Inslee approved it), giving Washington $45 million.
This is the amount of time it took a president to approve a disaster request (almost five months), according to E&E News, which analyzed more than 1,000 FEMA damage reports since 2007, when FEMA damage reports were first published. It is said to be the longest period.
The average time for presidential approval is 17 days…
E&E News found cases that fit the pattern described by Harvey. After losing the 2020 election, Trump delayed or ignored requests for disaster relief from state governors who criticized him.
