Vice President-elect JD Vance dismissed concerns that President-elect Trump may try to withhold federal aid from California to recover from wildfire damage.
In a “Fox News Sunday” interview, Shannon Bream asked Vance about comments Trump made during a press conference in Los Angeles in September 2024 when he threatened to withhold federal aid from California.
“We’re not going to give him money to put out all the fires,” Trump said at the time. “And if we don’t give him the money to put out the fire, he’s going to be in trouble.”
Asked whether he was considering withholding aid to Californians, Vance dismissed the idea but said Trump was committed to improving the federal response to the crisis.
“No, look. President Trump cares about all Americans. Right? He is a president for all Americans,” Vance said. “And I think he’s trying to get FEMA and other federal responses a lot better and have a lot more leads on what’s going on on the ground.”
When asked by California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) about President Trump’s invitation to visit the state, Vance said, “I know the president would want to visit California,” and added, “Our hearts go out to those affected by the natural disaster.” “It will happen,” he said. .
“No matter what your political affiliation, not seeing those images is heartbreaking for our fellow Americans who are going through difficult and very difficult times,” Vance said.
“And I honestly think the federal government needs to do a better job. President Trump is committed to doing better when it comes to disaster relief. The same goes for hurricane victims and flood victims in North Carolina. The same is true for California fire victims. We just have to — we have to do a better job. “We need competent good governance,” he said.
He said President Trump could still criticize Newsom. “I think we made some very bad decisions over a very long period of time.”
