Trump Accused of Using Disaster Recovery as Pawn for Tax Bill

Trump uses families as political pawns to attain his “luxury tax bill” benefits.

In his first presidential visit to disaster-stricken regions, Trump uses the plight of the affected families to seek tax breaks for the affluent, even suggesting federal abandon during disasters, straight out of the Project 2025 playbook.

Trump has been seen threatening to withhold disaster aid for California, using it as leverage to pass a tax cut favoring the ultra-rich in the reconciliation bill and tie it to debunked water management theories.

Earlier this week, Trump attacked FEMA, proposing that states should manage their own post-disaster scenarios, as advised in the Project 2025 playbook which advocates shifting majority of FEMA emergency costs to states and local governments.

Contrarily, the Biden-Harris administration has shown unwavering support to families in crisis by providing billions in federal aid for Hurricane Helene victims.

Trump’s threats to withhold federal disaster relief prompted a response from DNC Executive Director Sam Cornale:

“Trump needs to stop prioritizing his billionaire donors over the American citizens and perform his duties,” expressed Cornale in light of Trump’s threats to abandon states entirely.

Trump plans to manipulate disaster relief to gain leverage in his reconciliation bill.

Republicans follow suit and refuse to provide “strings-free” disaster aid, while others call for preconditions on wildfire relief to California.

Speaker Johnson breaks bipartisan agreement on Trump’s order, jeopardising a government shutdown and critical disaster relief funding.