President Donald Trump will speed up recovery efforts for victims of the Los Angeles Wildfires by waiving federal permitting requirements, Breitbart reported. The president is also asking local authorities to do the same.
Over 16,000 structures have been burned up in the wildfires that began earlier this month and are still smoldering. The death toll is up to 28 so far while countless others are left picking up the pieces after the infernos.
Trump toured the devastation Friday and joined a roundtable discussion with Los Angeles county officials. "We’re going to waive… essentially waive, all federal permits," the president announced. "We’re going to have you go very quickly, because the federal permit can take 10 years. We’re not going to do that… We don’t want to take 10 days," Trump said to cheers.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: "We're going to waive all federal permits... Because a federal permit can take 10 years... we don't want to take 10 days." pic.twitter.com/m3w70ld1GR
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) January 25, 2025
Trump was ready to get things moving for California's recovery and said he would declare a national emergency to speed things along. "By doing that, I can give you immediate, like, immediate permits," Trump said.
"I’d ask that the local permitting process be the same," he added for county officials. Trump was concerned as some victims were told they would have to wait 18 months to begin cleanup.
The president urged Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass to take action for residents who may be left waiting so long. "I can’t imagine that," Trump said.
"So they are literally in a position right now; they’d like to start tonight, and they’ll clean their site, they’ll do everything. They just want to start," Trump said. "And they were very concerned with the 18 months. So I’m sure you can get it down to, I would say, not even 18 days," he went on.
“They are ready, Mayor, they are ready to start,” Trump told Bass. The mayor agreed with Trump to waive these permit requirements and responded, "We’re ready."
Just days into his second term in office, Trump is already throwing his weight around for the sake of ordinary people. During the meeting with Bass, the president was firm in pushing to streamline the process to clean up and rebuild their homes and businesses.
Actor and filmmaker Mel Gibson spoke for many Californians when he told Fox News host Sean Hannity that he was "glad Trump's here at the moment," The Hill reported. "It’s like daddy arrived, and he’s taking his belt off, you know?" Gibson joked.
"So, I think he’ll get some results here quickly," he added. Gibson is one of the victims of the fire after his home in Malibu burned earlier this month.
He's also one of the president's special envoys to Hollywood as of last week. Gibson said he was "surprised" to be included along with actors Sylvester Stallone and Jon Voight, but he understood that his "duty as a citizen is to give any help and insight I can."
The people of California are suffering while their leaders are wasting time with red tape. Trump won't allow them to get away with this now that he's president, and Americans are cheering him on all the way.
