Trump’s Jaw-Dropping Plot to Punish Blue States Exposed
Donald Trump overruled his own administration to block the release of federal disaster aid to four Democratic-led states that did not vote for him in the 2024 election, according to a report.
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Emails and documents obtained by Politico reveal the president stepped in to deny relief to New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island after the states saw record-breaking snowfall in February.
Trump intervened to deny federal disaster aid to the states, even though each had met the thresholds set by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to qualify for relief following the extreme snowfall.
While the president has sole authority to approve or deny disaster aid, it is almost unprecedented for a governor’s request to be rejected once it has met FEMA and NOAA standards. One former FEMA official told Politico they could not “think of a time a declaration was denied” under such circumstances.
The rejection of federal aid is the latest example of the Trump administration governing the country using a two-tier system based on whether it benefits red or blue states.
Last week, a damning report from The New York Times revealed that federal officials admitted in court documents that the administration scrapped hundreds of federal grants and energy projects “based solely” on whether states were governed by Democrats and had supported Kamala Harris in 2024.
As Politico noted, Trump has approved nearly 90 percent of requests for federal disaster aid from Republican-led states.
In total, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island sought around $227 million in aid after the East Coast was battered by the blizzard earlier this year. During the record-breaking storm, nearly 40 inches of snow fell in Rhode Island in just 24 hours.
In a statement to Politico, a FEMA spokesperson suggested it will be harder for states to secure federal aid in the future, even after record-breaking extreme weather.
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“Federal assistance is reserved for truly extraordinary events that overwhelm local and state capabilities,” the spokesperson said. “States that regularly experience snow should plan and handle these activities as part of their regular operations.”
“Simply having record or near-record snowfall does not automatically qualify a state or community for federal aid if the overall impact and damages do not meet the necessary criteria,” they added.
Officials from the Democratic-led states believe the decision to deny federal disaster relief was purely political.
New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill said: “Without that aid, our local governments will be stuck with the costs of an unprecedented snowstorm that didn’t care about political boundaries.”
Matt Janiszewski, a spokesman for the New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, added: “New York State exceeded both the financial damages and snowfall thresholds necessary to receive a Major Disaster Declaration for February’s blizzard, and we will be appealing the decision.”
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson insisted there is “no politicization” to the president’s decisions on disaster relief aid in a statement.
Jackson added that Trump handles disaster requests “with great care” to ensure state aid is used “to supplement—not substitute- their obligation to respond to and recover from disasters.”
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The Daily Beast has contacted the White House and FEMA for further comment.
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