Donald J. Trump turned down $227 million in disaster relief for New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, all of which had requested federal help recovering from February's major snowstorm, Politico reports.
The denial came just two days after he'd signed off on FEMA aid for six Republican-led states — approvals he accompanied with praise for GOP officials and candidates in those states. The contrast is fueling fresh scrutiny of whether politics is affecting his administration's disaster-response decisions.
Democrats immediately questioned Trump’s denials, arguing that they follow a pattern disclosed by the outlet in March of Trump mostly rejecting disaster aid for Democratic-led states whereas approving it for states that officials lead in his party.
Rhode Island's four-member Democratic congressional delegation sent Trump a letter Monday accusing him of leaving the state's residents in the lurch on the same day he signed off on disaster declarations for several Republican-led states, calling it unacceptable to turn the disaster declaration process into a political tool.
New Jersey Democrat Sen. Andy Kim demanded an explanation.
“If there is a reason other than politics for him and his administration to withhold FEMA assistance, we need an explanation immediately,” he said in a statement.
FEMA responded that snowstorm damage has to clear a "genuinely extraordinary" bar to qualify for federal aid, adding that East Coast states are typically expected to handle major snowstorms on their own.
That standard comes after the Trump administration floated cutting off disaster aid for snowstorms entirely last year, which pushed Congress to specify in a bipartisan January spending bill that snowstorms should remain eligible for federal relief. Notably, all four states denied aid on Friday have Democratic governors and two Democratic senators apiece.
In a Truth Social post late last month, Trump wrote:
I am pleased to announce that the Great State of Louisiana has been approved to be given $8.6 Million Dollars in its Disaster Declaration Request. Louisiana is truly a special place, with Governor Jeff Landry, Senator John Kennedy, soon to be Senator Julia Letlow, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, and Congressman Clay Higgins. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP
Seems sus, doesn't it? But it tracks with Trump, a man who is out for retaliation against anyone who didn't vote for him. He wants the opposing party to suffer. That's sort of the opposite of how previous administrations handled things. He really is a garbage human being.
