Trump Refused Disaster Aid For Blue State WA In 2020

Politico reports:

In early September 2020, wildfires tore through eastern Washington state, obliterating tens of millions of dollars of property, displacing hundreds of rural residents and killing a 1-year-old boy. But then-President Donald Trump refused to act on Gov. Jay Inslee’s request for $37 million in federal disaster aid because of a bitter personal dispute with the Democratic governor, an investigation by POLITICO’s E&E News shows.

Trump’s spurning of Washington — documented by internal emails, letters, federal records and interviews — is the latest example of how the former president used disaster requests to punish political foes. E&E News reported in early October that Trump had refused to give disaster aid to California after wildfires in 2018 because the state is strongly Democratic.

President Joe Biden ultimately approved Inslee’s request two weeks after taking office — 141 days after Inslee had made it — and has given Washington $45 million.

Read the full article. Earlier this month Trump publicly ranted at a rally that California Gov. Gavin “Newscum” would not get disaster aid if Trump is reelected.

Trump ignored disaster aid request from political rival https://t.co/eWQocIVZrm

— E&E News (@EENewsUpdates) October 24, 2024