Trump fans the flames of Los Angeles wildfires
Living in California is a challenge. Every day, Golden State residents live on the edge of another natural disaster. And, having lived in California for 30 years before moving back to the East Coast, I’ve experienced my share of them.
In 1982, a 100-year landslide in Marin County wiped out dozens of homes and swept away a big chunk of our property, barely sparing our house. In 1995, the Mount Vision fire destroyed 45 homes in Inverness Park and was racing toward our nearby home in the village of Inverness. A fire crew camped out on our lawn overnight. Our car was packed and headed downhill, in case we had to evacuate. Luckily, the winds shifted and firefighters were able to stop the fire a half-mile from our house.
Living in San Francisco and Los Angeles, I also experienced my share of earthquakes, mostly minor, but I’ll never forget the two most devasting. First, in 1989, the 6.9 magnitude Loma Prieta quake, which struck during Game 3 of the World Series at San Francisco’s Candlestick Park, killed 63 people, injured more than 3,700, and collapsed major portions of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.
Five years later, in a beach house in Malibu, we experienced the full force of the disastrous 1994 Northridge earthquake (magnitude 6.7), which left 60 people dead, injured more than 7,000, damaged more than 40,000 buildings and leveled part of the Santa Monica Freeway.
Of course, during those 30 years, there were many other wildfires, landslides and earthquakes I did not personally experience. But now, on top of that, is the Apocalypse, the deadly wildfires still raging across Los Angeles. As of this writing, the Palisades fire is only 11 percent contained. It hits home for me, even though I’m 3,000 miles away, because of friends there, so many of whom are still in harm’s way, many who’ve been evacuated and some who’ve lost everything.
But here’s what’s changed. Until now, there was one element common to every one of those natural disasters: the sense of community that immediately sprang up in their wake. First, neighbors helping neighbors; then local fire and police departments responding; then help from state and federal agencies. All coming together with one purpose: to take care of victims, repair the damage and rebuild infrastructure and communities.
Of course, there were always questions about what happened and why, and whether the response could have been better. But they came later. The priority was clear: First, take care of the people; then, address any managerial or political issues.
Sadly, it’s not that way any longer. Donald Trump’s turned it upside down. He shows no empathy for victims of earthquakes, floods or fires. For him, every natural disaster is simply one more opportunity for him to play politics by telling lies, attacking state and local leaders and withholding aid, especially in parts of the country that didn’t vote for him. For him, it’s politics first, assistance later… maybe.
As reported in The Guardian, former Trump administration officials have said the former president, in his first term, initially refused to release federal disaster aid for wildfires in California in 2018, withheld wildfire assistance for Washington state in 2020 and severely restricted emergency relief to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria in 2017 — only because he felt these places were not sufficiently supportive of him. But months later, according to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s memoir, Trump promised to pay 100 percent of Florida’s costs after Hurricane Michael because “They love me in the Panhandle.”
Last October, in the wake of Hurricane Helene, Trump falsely accused the Biden administration of withholding relief from Republican areas of North Carolina and, again falsely, accused FEMA of redirecting its funds to help illegal immigrants.
That same pattern’s now playing out in the Los Angeles wildfires. While outgoing President Joe Biden pledged to pay all costs of relocating victims and cleaning-up debris for 180 days, incoming President Donald Trump — ignoring record 100-mph winds and near-zero rainfall in Southern California since last summer — has branded California Gov. Gavin Newsom as “Newscum” and blamed Newsom for causing the wildfires by not signing a “water restoration” document in 2019 — a document state officials say simply did not exist — and threatened to withhold any additional disaster assistance.
The key to disaster relief, which every first responder knows, is first and foremost to help people in trouble. Period. No politics involved. Donald Trump has never learned that lesson.
Bill Press is host of “The Bill Press Pod.” He is the author of “From the Left: A Life in the Crossfire.” Follow him on X @BillPressPod and on BlueSky @BillPress.bsky.social.