Trump Denies $227 Million In Disaster Aid To Four States, Days After Pairing Aid Approvals With Campaign Endorsements
FEMA's Own Damage Estimates Are Above the Agency's Thresholds For Aid in All Four States Trump Rejected
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In the span of two days last week, Donald Trump approved 11 disaster aid requests while promoting Republican candidates in the announcements, then denied $227 million to New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island for a February snowstorm that FEMA's own estimates say qualified all four states for help.
“Disaster aid is not a reward for political loyalty. It is a federal obligation to Americans whose homes, roads, and schools have been damaged through no fault of their own,” said Sabotaging Our Safety Advisory Council member Davante Lewis. “Congress should pass legislation making FEMA an independent, cabinet-level agency with statutory criteria for disaster declarations, so that no president of any party can hold survivors' recovery hostage to electoral math.”
The contrast within that 48 hours is stark. Louisiana received aid for a tropical storm whose damage roughly equaled its qualification threshold, in an announcement praising the state's Republican Senate candidate. Rhode Island, whose $19 million in FEMA-estimated damage ran roughly ten times its threshold, was turned away.
Trump made the political logic explicit himself. Announcing Wisconsin's aid on Truth Social, he opened by touting his gubernatorial pick, Rep. Tom Tiffany, as having his "Complete and Total Endorsement," never mentioning Democratic Governor Tony Evers, who requested it.
The pattern is documented across his entire second term. POLITICO’s reporting shows Trump has approved only 23% of disaster aid requests from states with a Democratic governor and two Democratic senators, compared to 89% from states with Republican leadership.Most of his denials to those states came despite FEMA assessments showing they qualified.
These denials also preview where the administration wants to take disaster policy for every state. Trump's FEMA Review Council has proposed raising qualification thresholds and adding new hurdles that would keep roughly one in three disasters from the past 14 years from reaching a president's desk at all.
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