President Trump’s fire fixer Lee Zeldin called out Gavin Newsom, making it clear he’s hurting fire victims by hurling daily insults at the president.
Zeldin was boots on the ground in the Palisades Wednesday where he held a roundtable, chatting with fire survivors before visiting one of the area’s burn sites. The California Post had exclusive access to the event.
During his visit, Zeldin said the amount of funding Newsom is asking for is a “massive, aspirational” number compared to what the local government actually needs to address the concerns he heard from victims.
“The governor then goes campaigning to become president in 2028, trying to lobby, lob insults at the president all day, every day, and in between insults — four or five of day — he’s like, ‘oh, by the way, where’s my tens of billions of dollars that are far above what the locals are asking for?’” Zeldin told reporters after a roundtable with victims of the Palisades Fire.
“So, my unsolicited advice, that I was happy to share this morning is that you’re getting undercut.”
Prior to the roundtable, Zeldin had a face-to-face with LA Mayor Karen Bass where they discussed the rebuild effort — a promising sign for things to come.
Zeldin held the roundtable alongside Small Business Administrator Kelly Loeffler where they heard from residents about the challenges they are facing when it comes to the permitting process, funding and getting insured.
Victims told Zeldin and Loeffler they want the federal government to step in, mirroring the post-9/11 Lower Manhattan model with a centralized agency overseeing Palisades funds to ensure accountability.
Loefller also highlighted an executive order signed by President Trump that helps victims struggling to get their permit approved by circumventing local law if their application has been on file for at least 60 days.
“If you’ve had a permit on file that meets the contours of the law, you can self-certify,” Loeffler said, adding that they would then be able to immediately start building while city inspectors later check and verify the permit.
“There’s two forms on the sba.gov website that homeowners can download and submit with their builders,” Loeffler said. “They are self-certifying that they’re in compliance with the state and local policy requirements to move in, but this gets them on their way.”
Zeldin said he will be back to visit the state later this month.
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