Newsom asks Trump for $40 billion to rebuild wildfire areas

After Donald Trump was elected, Gavin Newsom asked state legislators to approve money to "Trump-proof" the state before Trump took his oath of office.

Then came the wildfires, destroying entire sections of California that need to be rebuilt.

So, Newsom is now coming to Trump, hat in hand, asking for $40 billion of taxpayer money to rebuild the areas damaged by the wildfires.

Hat in Hand

Newsom was talking tough before Trump took office, working a deal with state legislatures to release $50 million to Trump-proof the state.

Senate Budget Chair Scott Wiener, a San Francisco Democrat, a likely successor to Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) when she finally removes her talons from her congressional seat, stated, “This funding agreement cements California’s readiness to serve as a bulwark against Trump’s extremist agenda."

The funding bookmarks $25 million to fight Trump's policies in court and another $25 million to defend illegal immigrants from deportation by the administration.

Assembly Minority Leader James Gallagher ripped the funding, stating, “At a time when California should be laser-focused on responding to the devastating wildfires in LA, Democrat lawmakers’ priority is creating a $50 million slush fund to hire government lawyers for hypothetical fights against the federal government and to defend criminal illegal immigrants from being returned to their home countries."

But now Newsom needs money to fix the damage caused by wildfires, so he has approached Trump and asked for $40 billion of our tax dollars.

Newsom sent a 14-page letter to Congress, stating, “Make no mistake, Los Angeles will use this money wisely. California will ensure that funds will serve individuals, communities, property owners, and businesses that suffered losses from these deadly fires.”

I suspect that Congress will approve the money, but before it is given to California, Trump will attach considerable attachments for the money to be disbursed.

With the GOP in charge of the House and Senate, and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) proving to be a yes man for Trump, expect Trump to give Johnson his list of demands that will be worked into the legislation.

Then I would expect to see considerable resistance from Democrats over those conditions, resulting in them voting against the relief, which would then allow the GOP to play the same game that Democrats play in terms of touting their "no" votes rather than why they voted no.

Let's see how Dems like playing with the rule book they wrote.