Local opinion: Trump's take on natural disasters
Donald Trump and his MAGATES in Congress have vowed to substantially reduce disaster relief budget funding. Trump has advocated this since his first term. He thinks it's a waste of money — until he uses it as a campaign issue, like now.
After a disagreement with California Governor Gavin Newsom, he threatened California to block all federal wildfire aid from California if he wins this November. Pure personal vengeance. He said this at a time when three fires were consuming over 100,000 acres. Ironically or prophetically, Newsom's response was, "Today it's California's wildfires. Tomorrow it could be hurricane funding for North Carolina or flooding assistance for Pennsylvania."
When he visited a California fire disaster area as president in 2019, his brilliant solution for preventing these fires was to clean and water the forests. He believed the Columbia River could be diverted to "soak the ground." Experts "burned" this idea as, well, laughable.
Trump made a one-day trip to the Georgia hurricane zone, despite requests from Governor Brian Kemp not to come, as conditions weren't conducive for the visit and it would disrupt aid efforts and personnel. Trump insisted on a photo op, so he attended anyway. He then criticized Kamala Harris and Joe Biden for not coming, which they did, with Harris taking multiple days off the campaign trail. This was at a more appropriate and applicable time. It is not just Georgia but North Carolina as well.
Trump accused them of being incompetent (forgetting his incompetence during a worldwide pandemic). Trump accused the Democratic administration of "ignoring the needs of Republican states." He added, "If I were president, none of this would have happened." How would he have prevented Hurricane Helene?
I thought back to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico in 2017 when he arrived weeks later throwing rolls of paper towels at residents. He also blocked a supply ship, bringing relief. Congress approved relief funds in 2017, but Trump wouldn't release those dedicated funds — until just before the election in 2020. Why? He put the debts they owed to Wall Street and banks ahead of the needs of the people. A president doesn't do that. Nor does he say he'd "refuse to grant Puerto Rico statehood because there are people on the island that weren't nice to him."
Remember the recent visits Trump and his apprentice, JD Vance, made to the Mexican wall to boast about the wall he built without Mexico's money? The wall section they used as a prop background was not Trump's wall, but George W. Bush's. Unlike Harris, his audience was only Trump supporters.
Sheldon Metz is a Tucson resident and a politics and history researcher.
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