President Donald Trump is set to visit hurricane-hit western North Carolina and wildfire-devastated Los Angeles on Friday, marking the first trip of his second term.
Trump has strongly criticised former President Joe Biden for his handling of the North Carolina crisis and accused California leaders’ water policies of exacerbating the wildfires.
The White House has requested California congressional members, including Democrats to organise a roundtable at an airplane hangar in Santa Monica during Trump’s visit.
Trump has proposed using federal disaster aid as leverage in unrelated legislative talks over government borrowing or to pressure California into altering its water policies.
“Southern California and California has always been there for other regions of the country in their time of crisis, and we expect our country to be there for us,” Sen. Alex Padilla, a Democrat from the state, said this week.
Trump has a history of mixing politics with disaster response. During his first term, he suggested limiting aid to Democratic states that didn’t support him, according to former administration officials.
While campaigning last year, he falsely claimed that Democrats were “going out of their way to not help people in Republican areas” in North Carolina.
Recently, he has incorrectly claimed that California’s water policies, particularly fish conservation efforts in the northern state, caused hydrants to run dry in Los Angeles.
“I don’t think we should give California anything until they let the water run down,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity on Wednesday.
The president also proposed giving more responsibility to state governments for managing disasters.
Michael Coen, former chief of staff at FEMA during the Biden administration, stated that Trump was “misinformed” about the agency’s role in offering vital assistance to states during crises.
During his previous presidency, Trump visited several disaster zones, including areas hit by hurricanes and tornadoes. However, his visits were often marked by controversy, such as when he threw paper towels to survivors of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico.
