{"id":463412,"date":"2025-04-24T11:32:56","date_gmt":"2025-04-24T18:32:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/calmatters.org\/?p=463412"},"modified":"2025-04-24T17:56:56","modified_gmt":"2025-04-25T00:56:56","slug":"trump-newsom-california-wildfires","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/calmatters.org\/_es\/politics\/2025\/04\/trump-newsom-california-wildfires\/","title":{"rendered":"How Gavin Newsom is balancing the fight against Trump with Los Angeles fire relief"},"content":{"rendered":"
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En resumen<\/strong><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t

Gov. Gavin Newsom reset his relationship with President Donald Trump after the Los Angeles fires, but he has yet to secure the disaster aid he wants. Now new political pressures are pushing California\u2019s governor back into confrontation with Trump.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\n

Three months into President Donald Trump\u2019s second term and the recovery from the firestorm that devastated Los Angeles, Gov. Gavin Newsom finds himself at a precarious juncture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The olive branch that Newsom extended to Trump in January, as Los Angeles reeled from multiple fires and the president threatened to withhold disaster aid<\/a>, has yet to deliver on its early promise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once a leading voice in the resistencia anti-Trump<\/a>, Newsom traveled to Los Angeles<\/a> y then Washington, D.C.<\/a> to meet with the president and lobby for federal assistance. Trump rewarded his outreach with a d\u00e9tente \u2014 ceasing reference to the governor as \u201cNewscum\u201d and publicly promising that an \u201cL.A. fire fix\u201d was coming<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But amid ongoing battles over government funding, Congress has to date ignored Newsom\u2019s request for $40 billion to rebuild Los Angeles<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, new political pressures are mounting. Increasingly furious with Trump\u2019s dismantling of the federal government, Democratic voters are agitating their leaders to speak out \u2014 and even Newsom can no longer hold his tongue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He made his most pointed criticism of the president\u2019s agenda since before the fires when he sued last week to stop Trump\u2019s sweeping tariffs scheme<\/a>, calling it the \u201cposter child\u201d of stupidity. It appears to have unleashed Newsom\u2019s confrontational side again, in a semi-profane announcement<\/a> of another lawsuit to stop cuts to AmeriCorps and a commentary blasting the Trump administration<\/a> for defying court orders that followed in the days after.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The stakes are incredibly high, not only for the future of Los Angeles but also for his gubernatorial legacy<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maintaining his connection to Trump<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Visiting an airport hangar in Sacramento County on Thursday to show off the state\u2019s newest firefighting planes, Newsom acknowledged that he\u2019s grappling with how far he can push without damaging his relationship with the president, whose backing will be critical to get any aid package through the Republican-controlled Congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Newsom said he would defend the state\u2019s fundamental principles but try to avoid fights that are merely virtue signaling, which would invite a negative response from Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you want to make a point, you may want to reconsider. If you want to make a difference, stand tall and firm. And that\u2019s kind of the approach,\u201d Newsom said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The governor said he\u2019s continuing to work behind the scenes to maintain his connection with Trump. His team gave the White House a heads up about the tariffs lawsuit, which Newsom said was intended as a gesture of respect, and he is planning another trip to Washington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As he leans anew into the opposition, Newsom is also training his ire on the Trump administration while largely avoiding mentioning Trump himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Newsom said the tariffs, which his office has referred to as DEFCON 2 because of their potential to upend California\u2019s entire economy<\/a>, represent the type of threat that reaches a level that compels the governor to respond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not personal. But it\u2019s very important that we assert ourselves. And people are looking to us to lead,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s important we have people\u2019s backs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not the first time Newsom has had to find a way to set aside differences with his political nemesis<\/a> for a state in turmoil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two days after Newsom won the governorship in 2018 with a campaign that made Trump his primary foil<\/a>, the deadliest wildfire in California history tore through the town of Paradise. In between filing dozens of lawsuits against the federal government<\/a>, Newsom also worked closely with Trump to guide California through the early days of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But working with the president has become more complex than ever, said Mark Ghilarducci, who served as director of the Governor\u2019s Office of Emergency Services from 2012 to 2022. While Trump always struggled to understand the complexities of disasters and provide an empathetic response, he\u2019s become \u201cvery extreme in his second term,\u201d Ghilarducci said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two
President Donald Trump listens to Gov. Gavin Newsom after arriving on Air Force One at Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles on Jan. 24, 2025. Photo by Mark Schiefelbein, AP Photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In his first term, Ghilarducci said, Trump\u2019s impulses were tempered by other high-ranking officials who were reasonable and experienced \u2014 experts with authority whom California could engage to ultimately to get what it needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Trump rejected a major disaster declaration request in October 2020 for six wildfires burning across California, Ghilarducci said the Newsom administration made the case that the decision mostly hurt counties that supported the president and he promptly reversed himself<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNow it’s really just slash and burn and destroy,\u201d Ghilarducci said. \u201cHe’s surrounded by people who are much more enablers and sycophants.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ghilarducci said the political environment is the most challenging he\u2019s seen in his four-decade career in disaster response. As Trump gleefully punishes his political enemies, his administration is eliminating departments and programs that would facilitate Los Angeles\u2019 recovery, and Congress can barely pull together enough votes to keep the government funded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s something where you need a lot of savvy, strategic, thoughtful tradecraft to be able to navigate all the twists and turns,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wildfire funds in the hands of Congress<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Newsom administration remains hopeful that Congress will approve a supplemental disaster relief package by this summer. Its $40 billion wish list includes money for debris removal, public infrastructure repair, housing reconstruction, economic development grants and small business loans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The governor\u2019s office could not provide a comprehensive list of disasters for which California has previously received supplemental disaster relief and how long it took to get the money. But a funding bill that furnished money to recover from the Camp Fire passed in June 2019, about seven months after the blaze ignited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bipartisan team of Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla and GOP Rep. Ken Calvert of Corona, with California\u2019s entire congressional delegation behind them<\/a>, is leading the push on Capitol Hill. Early demands to condition aid to Los Angeles on unrelated policies such as water management and voter identification appear to be waning<\/a>, especially as discussions around a funding bill have broadened to incorporate subsequent disasters in red and purple states, including floods in Kentucky and wildfires in North Carolina.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFrom wildfires in California, to hurricanes in the Southeast, natural disasters do not distinguish between red states and blue states, and neither should our support for fellow Americans in their time of need,\u201d Padilla said in a statement. \u201cI will continue to push for additional disaster funding at every possible opportunity. I will also do everything I can to maintain bipartisan support for delivering additional relief for our state.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"An
An aerial view of the Palisades Fire devastation at the Palisades Bowl Mobile Home Park, on Feb. 8, 2025. Photo by Ted Soqui, SIPA USA via Reuters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Until then, California has a few more months of fiscal runway, because of a generous major disaster declaration that then-President Joe Biden signed immediately after the Los Angeles fires in January. That order authorizes the Federal Emergency Management Agency to reimburse 100% of the costs for cleanup, hazard mitigation and financial assistance for survivors for 180 days. After that, 75% of eligible emergency response costs are reimbursed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that account will eventually run out of money, requiring Congress to act to fund a longer-term recovery for Los Angeles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Newsom said Thursday that he was encouraged because he has not heard anything from the Trump administration recently, either publicly or privately, reinforcing the president\u2019s earlier comments about conditioning aid. The White House did not respond to questions about Trump\u2019s position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI feel optimistic because, in the spirit that defines the best of this country, there\u2019s a recognition we\u2019re all in this together,\u201d Newsom said. \u201cThis idea that we\u2019re conditioning things or leveraging, I just don\u2019t think it\u2019s American.<\/p>\n\n\n\t\n\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\tLeer m\u00e1s<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t
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Newsom takes on Trump over tariffs he says are hurting California<\/a><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Trump,\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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Trump, Newsom play high-stakes game over billions in federal wildfire aid<\/a><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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