Less than one week into his second term in office, President Donald Trump is pulling no punches when it comes to his take on the current situation in wildfire-ravaged Los Angeles.
During a frequently contentious roundtable discussion on Friday night, Trump took L.A. Democrat Mayor Karen Bass to task over local government's management of the crisis and suggested that her inaction is causing unnecessary delays for residents eager to begin the process of rebuilding their lives, as the Daily Mail reports.
After touring the devastation of the Pacific Palisades area, Trump took part in a roundtable session with Bass, Rep. Brad Sherman, and other area officials, with a group of frustrated, displaced homeowners also in attendance.
It was not long before the event took a tense turn, as Newsweek reports, with Trump taking issue with Bass' characterization of the current level of access residents have to what remains of their homes.
The mayor referenced the ability of Angelenos to quickly begin the process of rebuilding, an assertion Trump countered by noting concerns he heard from “at least eight groups of homeowners” that delays of up to 18 months were likely before any such action could commence.
Though Bass attempted to negate Trump's claim and said that her city was moving “as fast as we can,” but that properties would need to be declared “safe” for residents to gain access, the president said, “But the people are willing to clear out their own debris. It doesn't cost a lot. You should let them do it, because by the time you hire contractors, it's gonna be two years.”
Trump continued, “You have emergency powers just like I do. I'm exercising my emergency powers. You have to exercise them also...I mean you have a very powerful emergency power, and you can do everything within 24 hours,” and though Bass insisted that residents could return to their homesites “within a week,” the president remained unsatisfied, saying, “That's a long time, a week.”
It was not only Bass who drew a very public rebuke from Trump on Friday night, but with Sherman also called to account for contributing to the conditions the president believes are exacerbating the current crisis, as RealClearPolitics explains.
As he called for enhanced federal assistance to those impacted by the fires, Sherman stated, “Mr. President, without your help, they're only going to get $43,000 from the federal government even if they have a half-million-dollar in insurance loss.”
Trump countered, “Well, you know, you did something, Brad, where every insurance company in the country left California. That's why you have no insurance, because you made it so impossible. People that think like you made it so impossible.”
Sherman snapped back, “I don't know. I don't know what you know about my thinking.”
The president held firm, saying, “I'll tell you this, I've never seen a state where almost nobody has insurance. And I said, 'what happened?' And they said, like, six months ago, they all left. And two years ago, they had different, you know, quadrants. But they left. And you have very little insurance here. I mean, I've never seen anything like it.”
Despite the fraught nature of the firehouse roundtable, Trump has committed to helping California in its recovery from the historically catastrophic recent events, pledging collaboration even with those who have been hostile toward him in the past.
Speaking alongside frequent foe Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) shortly after his arrival in California, Trump said, “We're looking to get something completed, and the way you get it completed is to work together. He's the governor of this state. And we're gonna get it completed, they're gonna need a lot of federal help.”
