Trump’s California rants belie feds’ quick disaster response. California officials say federal agencies have approved all funding requests to help fight the state’s deadly fires.
In general, former FEMA administrators appointed by presidents of both parties said Trump’s personal responses to disasters appeared to have no bearing on the government’s on-the-ground response to them.
“You’ve got the rhetoric and what really happens,” said Craig Fugate, who led FEMA under President Barack Obama. “None of this on the surface to me seems like the rhetoric is interfering with the process.”
R. David Paulison, the FEMA administrator under President George W. Bush, said, “I’ve watched the responses as best as I can from afar and I have not seen anything to indicate the response has been partisan one way or another.”