Trump seems to soften his threat to halt emergency funding for California fire victims

[left-of-center2012]

https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-california-fires-trump-20190206-story.html

A month after tweeting that he might order FEMA to cut federal disaster funding to California fire victims, President Trump declined to renew that threat and indicated that talks with state officials were going well.

Speaking to The Times and several regional newspapers in the Oval Office, Trump said Wednesday that he and Gov. Gavin Newsom spoke by phone about two weeks ago, after his Jan. 9 tweet that he had ordered the Federal Emergency Management Agency not to send more disaster funding to state officials “unless they get their act together, which is unlikely.”

Asked Wednesday if he still thinks the federal government shouldn’t give California any more money until the state changes its forest management practices, Trump refrained from directly repeating the threat, but said something has to be done to keep California from burning year after year.

“I told my people, I said we cannot continue to spend billions of dollars, billions and billions of dollars,” Trump said.
“Forest fires are totally preventable. They shouldn’t happen.”

[Blue Owl]

1. Did he take a stool softener?

n/t

[Wellstone ruled]

2. Was not the funding for the Cal Fires included in the Bill to reopen

the Government as well as full back pay to those who worked without pay.

[SammyWinstonJack]

3. "I told my people...." WTF?

[Cicada]

4. The Paradise fire was in Republican territory

[PufPuf23]

5. Charm offensive(ness) by Trump

Almost appears Trump is making a deliberate strategy in recent days to not look as mean.

Don't forget Trump is mean, meaner than Reagan.

And way stupid. But some powerful Teflon folks benefit by Trump. The mean and stupid are fans too.

Trump has close to zero understanding of forests and wildfire in California.