California wildfire aid will come with 'strings,' says Trump envoy Grenell

The Trump administration will place “strings” on the recovery assistance it gives to California after the state faced deadly wildfires, Trump envoy Richard Grenell said Friday.

“The federal response is mostly money and so we are going to have strings on the money that we give to California,” Grenell, President Trump’s envoy for special missions, said during an interview with Politico at the Conservative Political Action Conference.

He cited the state’s policies related to water and forestry. While the fires were raging, Trump also criticized the state’s water policies. However, experts told The Hill at the time that Trump’s idea of pumping more water from the northern part of the state would be both impractical and unnecessary.

Grenell, meanwhile, did not say what exactly the conditions will be but did say the California Coastal Commission, which seeks to protect the state’s coastlines, should be “defunded.”

Grenell is considering a run for California’s governor. However, any Republican would face an uphill battle in the overwhelmingly blue state.

His comments are not the first time the administration has indicated it would put conditions on aid to California. Trump in the past has said assistance could depend on the state’s water, forestry, immigration and voter ID policies.

Jared Gans contributed.

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