The United States President Donald Trump has on Wednesday, threatened to order a halt to federal disaster aid to California’s wildfires unless they get their act together prompting new democratic governor Gavin Newsom saying “disasters and recovery are no time for politics”.
In a tweet, the US president wrote: “Billions of dollars are sent to the State of California for Forest fires that, with proper Forest Management, would never happen.”
According to CNBC reports, Trump’s comment came after western governs asked for big federal investment in the fire prevention.
Referring to Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Trump said, “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!”
Billions 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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 9, 2019
This Trump’s move has targeted Democratic US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is in a lead against Trump over his demand of $5 billion US-Mexico border, and home to several biggest political rivals of Trump.
While tweeting, Pelosi launched a scathing attack and said Trump’s “threat insults the memory of scores of Americans who perished in wildfires last year & thousands more who lost their homes”.
Pelosi tweeted: “@realDonaldTrump’s threat insults the memory of scores of Americans who perished in wildfires last year & thousands more who lost their homes. @GOPLeader must join me to condemn & call on POTUS to reassure millions in CA that our govt will be there for them in their time of need.”
.@realDonaldTrump’s threat insults the memory of scores of Americans who perished in wildfires last year & thousands more who lost their homes. @GOPLeader must join me to condemn & call on POTUS to reassure millions in CA that our govt will be there for them in their time of need https://t.co/YZJQug9zh0
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) January 9, 2019
Also, during her swearing-in ceremony, Pelosi has said the Trump administration is “hostile to California’s values”.