U.S. Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., said she did not believe conditions should be placed on federal support for the wildfires sweeping through Southern California, after President Donald Trump He suggested he wanted wildfire aid to be conditional.
The area represented by Chu includes Altadena and Northern Pasadena, which were affected by the deadly Eaton fire.
“There have never been any conditions placed on disaster aid in the history of America,” Chu told Inside California Politics.
“I know I voted for disasters in red states and for blue states,” she continued. “And let me say, wildfires have no political affiliations. They have no political party.”
Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif. During an Eaton shooting press conference on January 9, 2025, at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. (Getty Images)
This comes after Trump said on Friday that two conditions must be met in California before the federal government provides disaster relief. He said he wants lawmakers to approve voter ID legislation and that the water should be allowed to flow throughout the state.
“I want to see two things in Los Angeles. Voter ID, so people have an opportunity to vote, and I want to see water released and going down into Los Angeles and throughout the state,” Trump told reporters at North. Carolina while touring hurricane recovery efforts in that state. “Those are two things. After that, I'll be the greatest president California has ever seen.”
Trump visited Los Angeles later on Friday for the presentation Damage caused by forest fires And meet local officials and residents.
US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump tour an area affected by a fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, on January 24, 2025. .
Chu said she wants Trump to tell working-class victims in her district that they will only see help to address the devastation if there are conditions.
“I want him to see how these Americans are terribly devastated every day and I also want him to hear from their voices,” Chu said. “I want him to, in effect, look the victim in the eyes and say he will not help unless there are conditions.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, responded to Trump's comments about conditional aid. The governor's office said that many other states — including some won by Trump — generally do not require identification in voting polls and that California residents must provide identification when registering to vote. Newsom's office also said the state is pumping as much water as possible under policies from Trump's first term.
A view of homes destroyed by the Eaton Fire on January 9, 2025, in Altadena, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
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“Aid conditioning for American citizens is wrong,” Newsom's office said on X.
Republicans in Congress have proposed tying wildfire aid to debt ceiling increases or changes to California's fire mitigation policies, but Democrats have argued against conditions on federal aid. Southern California.
