A tweet from Trump on 9 January 2019 says that he will cut off FEMA funds for fighting California wildfires. In the original tweet, he misspelled the word, 'Forrest'. Graphic: Twitter
A tweet from Trump on 9 January 2019 says that he will cut off FEMA funds for fighting California wildfires. In the original tweet, he misspelled the word, ‘Forrest’. Graphic: Twitter

By David Jackson
9 January 2019

WASHINGTON (USA TODAY) – President Donald Trump said in a Wednesday tweet that he is cutting off federal money to fight California wildfires, claiming the money is being wasted.

“Billions of dollars are sent to the State of California for Forrest fires that, with proper Forrest Management, would never happen,” Trump said.

“Unless they get their act together, which is unlikely, I have ordered FEMA to send no more money. It is a disgraceful situation in lives & money!”

It’s unclear whether Trump has already ordered the Federal Emergency Management Agency to cut off money for California fires or is threatening to do so as he has in the past.

Critics on Twitter questioned whether Trump could legally withhold FEMA money that has already been appropriated.

State officials have accused Trump of playing politics with the California wildfires, and said he does not understand the issues involved in fighting fires.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has criticized Trump over firefighting policy, tweeted after the president’s shutdown speech on Tuesday that “Trump’s go-to is governing by fear and division.” […]

In an initial post, the president misspelled the word “Forrest,” He later tweeted the same message with the correct spelling of “forest.” [more]

President Trump says he’s cutting off FEMA money for California fires