President Donald Trump named voter ID and water reforms as the two concessions he is seeking from California as Washington is considering sending financial relief to the state as it battles wildfires around Los Angeles.
“I want to see two things in Los Angeles: voter ID so that the people have a chance to vote, and I want to see the water be released and come down into Los Angeles and throughout the state. After that, I will be the greatest president that California has ever seen,” Trump told reporters Friday after Air Force One touched down in Asheville, North Carolina.
Trump has repeatedly made unfounded claims of widespread voter fraud in California, both before and after his 2020 election loss.
He added after a briefing in Fletcher, North Carolina, that he would not impose similar conditions on the Tar Heel State for federal funding.
“We’re going to do a lot for North Carolina. They’ve been very slow. I don’t know why it’s been so bad,” he said. “I don’t know if that’s for political reasons because they lost the state … but this has been very slow, and we’re going to make up for lost time.”
Trump will travel to Los Angeles and Pacific Palisades later Friday for a tour and to meet with residents affected by the fires after surveying the damage caused by Hurricane Helene in western North Carolina.
Once there, Trump is expected to be greeted at Los Angeles International Airport by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA). Ahead of Trump’s arrival, Newsom’s office released a statement on the president’s conditions, criticizing them as “wrong.”
“Under current CA law you must be a CA resident and US citizen (and attest to being one under penalty of perjury) AND provide a form of ID such as driver’s license or passport that has been approved by the Secretary of State in order to register to vote,” Newsom’s office posted on social media.
A California voter does not need to show ID when arriving at the polls.
Trump has used the Democratic response to the natural disasters against former President Joe Biden and Newsom, amplifying complaints that fish conservation efforts have exacerbated imbalances between how water is distributed from Northern California to the rest of the state.
“I don’t think we should give California anything until they let the water run down,” Trump told Fox News on Wednesday night during his first Oval Office interview.
Trump reiterated the view after his appearance in the Roosevelt Room on his first full day in office during an exchange with reporters.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“Los Angeles has massive amounts of water available to it. All they have to do is turn the valve,” Trump said. “They wouldn’t do it because, politically, they didn’t think it was good. I think it’s great politically. I think they’re dead politically. What they’ve done, they’ve destroyed the city.”
Trump has also proposed pairing an increase in the federal debt ceiling with money for California’s recovery efforts as Republicans try to pass a funding bill with a slim majority in the House and Senate.
