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MaddowBlog'Political games': Blue states see a pattern as Trump backs disaster aid for red states
Those who believe the White House has politicized disaster relief have ample evidence to work with.
Democrats keep accusing the White House of playing petty partisan games with federal disaster aid.
— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2025-12-22T18:40:41.228Z
And Trump keeps proving them right. www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...
https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/political-games-blue-states-see-a-pattern-as-trump-backs-disaster-aid-for-red-states
Take federal disaster aid, for example.
After Illinois suffered extensive damage from two major storms over the summer, for example, state officials sought federal disaster aid. After the White House said no, Politico reported, “Trump’s denials are the first time any president since at least 2007 — including Trump to this point — has refused to help residents recover from such extensive damage to their homes, federal records show.”
It wasn’t just Illinois (a state Trump lost by 11 points). Maryland (a state Trump lost by 29 points) and Vermont (a state Trump lost by 31 points) found their appeals for federal relief funds denied, too.
Colorado (a state Trump lost by 11 points) has found itself in the same club. The Associated Press reported:
“Coloradans impacted by the Elk and Lee fires and the flooding in Southwestern Colorado deserve better than the political games President Trump is playing,” the Democratic governor said in a written statement.
Although the White House denied political considerations, one day before the administration rejected Colorado’s aid request, the president published an item to his social media platform that read, “I have just informed Senator Roger Marshall that I have approved $5.7 Million Dollars for the wonderful State of Kansas in order to recover from severe storms, tornados, and flooding. These are tough and smart Patriots who love our Country, and will rebuild stronger than ever before!”.....
It would be easier to see this as a coincidence if the Republican administration had been evenhanded in dealing with red and blue states, but the obvious fact that it has not makes these latest decisions even more difficult to defend.
“Trump seems to see Democratic-led states — and the people in them — less as constituents to which he has a set of larger obligations and more as enemies to be pacified and defeated,” The New York Times’ Jamelle Bouie recently argued. “For Trump, there is no whole people of the United States. There are only his people and his states.”
After Illinois suffered extensive damage from two major storms over the summer, for example, state officials sought federal disaster aid. After the White House said no, Politico reported, “Trump’s denials are the first time any president since at least 2007 — including Trump to this point — has refused to help residents recover from such extensive damage to their homes, federal records show.”
It wasn’t just Illinois (a state Trump lost by 11 points). Maryland (a state Trump lost by 29 points) and Vermont (a state Trump lost by 31 points) found their appeals for federal relief funds denied, too.
Colorado (a state Trump lost by 11 points) has found itself in the same club. The Associated Press reported:
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis accused President Donald Trump of playing ‘political games’ Sunday after the Trump administration denied disaster declaration requests following wildfires and flooding in the state earlier this year.
Polis’ office said he received late Saturday two denial letters from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The letters follow requests for major disaster declarations following wildfires and mudslides in August and what Polis had described as ‘historic flooding’ across southwest Colorado in October.
“Coloradans impacted by the Elk and Lee fires and the flooding in Southwestern Colorado deserve better than the political games President Trump is playing,” the Democratic governor said in a written statement.
Although the White House denied political considerations, one day before the administration rejected Colorado’s aid request, the president published an item to his social media platform that read, “I have just informed Senator Roger Marshall that I have approved $5.7 Million Dollars for the wonderful State of Kansas in order to recover from severe storms, tornados, and flooding. These are tough and smart Patriots who love our Country, and will rebuild stronger than ever before!”.....
It would be easier to see this as a coincidence if the Republican administration had been evenhanded in dealing with red and blue states, but the obvious fact that it has not makes these latest decisions even more difficult to defend.
“Trump seems to see Democratic-led states — and the people in them — less as constituents to which he has a set of larger obligations and more as enemies to be pacified and defeated,” The New York Times’ Jamelle Bouie recently argued. “For Trump, there is no whole people of the United States. There are only his people and his states.”
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