Report Reveals Trump Withheld Disaster Aid to States Led by Governors Who Criticized Him

A new report from Politico’s E&E News has detailed how former President Donald Trump routinely withheld or delayed federal disaster aid to states whose governors either criticized him or acknowledged President Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election, regardless of party affiliation. The report highlights Trump’s use of federal aid as a political weapon, denying help to both Democratic and Republican leaders who publicly opposed him.

One of the most notable cases involved Democratic Governor Jay Inslee of Washington. In 2020, wildfires ravaged parts of Washington state, and Inslee requested $37 million in federal aid for recovery efforts. Despite the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) confirming that the disaster met the threshold for federal assistance, Trump withheld approval for months. He only approved the aid request just before leaving office, after delaying it for the final four months of his presidency.

“It really was an outrageous abuse of power,” Inslee told E&E News. Inslee, who had previously criticized Trump’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, stating the federal response would be “more successful if the Trump administration stuck to the science and told the truth,” faced retaliatory actions from the former president. Trump responded by calling Inslee a “snake” and a “nasty person.”

Two days before the governor’s aid request, Inslee had publicly denounced Trump’s environmental policies and his dismissive stance on global warming. Ironically, while Washington state is traditionally Democratic, the wildfires predominantly affected the Republican-leaning eastern part of the state. Even though Washington eventually received the requested aid, the delay underscored Trump’s practice of using disaster relief as a tool for political retribution.

Republican governors were not immune from Trump’s retaliatory tactics. Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, also a critic of Trump’s pandemic response, faced a similar situation. After Hogan purchased 500,000 COVID-19 tests from South Korea to bolster his state’s response, Trump publicly attacked him, calling him a “RINO” (Republican in name only) and disparaging the tests. Hogan requested federal aid following a tropical storm that FEMA confirmed met the disaster threshold. However, Trump never approved the request before leaving office, delaying critical assistance to the state.

Biden eventually approved the aid in February 2021, but the damage had been done. Russell Strickland, Maryland’s Emergency Management Agency director, stated that the delay caused the state to “miss opportunities” to protect residents against future natural disasters. “Citizens do not have the ability to wait months to receive assistance and return to their homes and businesses,” Strickland said.

Utah Governor Gary Herbert, another Republican, also encountered Trump’s punitive approach. In October 2020, Herbert requested federal aid for a series of destructive storms, but Trump took 97 days to approve the request, despite FEMA confirming the state met the criteria for assistance. Herbert had been one of the first Republicans to publicly recognize Biden as the winner of the 2020 election, and he had condemned Utah’s attorney general for supporting efforts to overturn the election results.

The report is particularly significant in light of Trump’s recent, unfounded accusations that President Biden mishandled the federal response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton. In contrast, governors from both parties praised the Biden administration for its swift action in declaring federal emergencies to expedite disaster relief. Even Fox News anchor Neil Cavuto criticized Trump’s claims, calling them “wrong” and “bull.”

The report highlights the broader implications of using disaster relief as a political weapon, emphasizing the risks it poses to citizens who are left waiting for critical assistance.