Trump Looked Up How Many Votes He Got in Wildfire-Torn Area Before Agreeing to Provide Disaster Aid, Officials Claim

Mar. 15, 2025

Photo:Bill Pugliano/Getty

Bill Pugliano/Getty

Former officials inDonald Trump’s White House have dropped new bombshell claims that the previous president wanted to withhold federal disaster aid in states that were not Republican-leaning during his time as commander in chief.

Mark Harvey, a senior director on Trump’s National Security Council staff, andOlivia Troye, the former homeland security adviser toMike Pence, spoke toPolitico’s E&E Newsand alleged that there are at least three occasions where Trump played politics and deliberately delayed disaster relief as president.

In one shocking instance — during the deadly California wildfires in 2018 — Harvey claims that Trump initially refused to approve disaster aid because the state is historically Democratic. Harvey alleges that the then-president only changed his mind after staff made the case that Orange County, where fire was spreading, largely supported Trump.

Troye alleges that Trump refused to sign documents approving aid as president, despite pleas from local politicians, leading her to repeatedly call on Pence to step in.

“It’s not going to be about that American voter out there who isn’t even really paying attention to politics, and their house is gone, and the president of the United States is judging them for how they voted, and they didn’t even vote,” Troye said.

Harvey added, “There’s no empathy for the survivors. It is all about getting your photo-op, right? Disaster theater to make him look good.”

The warnings from Harvey and Troye, who have both endorsedKamala Harrisin the presidential election, come while Trumpspreads liesabout the Biden administration’s response to Hurricane Helene.

On Sept. 30, the former presidentclaimed without evidencethat the Biden administration and North Carolina’s Democratic governor were “going out of their way to not help people in Republican areas.”

Trump also falsely claimed that PresidentJoe Bidenwas dodging calls from Georgia’s Republican governor amid the storm, whichthe governor himself debunked.

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“It doesn’t matter which state it is.It doesn’t matter if it’s a red state or blue state,” she said. “This is their job — to get food there, to get generators there, to save some lives, to rescue people. And so we are very proud of the work that they’ve done.”

source: people.com