Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said President Trump lacks the authority to fast-track wildfire rebuilding efforts in her own backyard after he signed an executive order aimed at speeding up the sluggish process.
“I’m calling on the President to issue a new Executive Order to demand the insurance industry pay people for their losses so that survivors can afford to rebuild,” Bass said in a statement to The Post.
Bass said the President should “handle his business” because “we are handling ours.” MediaNews Group via Getty ImagesThe mayor said that Trump has “no authority over the local permitting process” and should focus on making insurers pay claims and speeding up FEMA funding.
“The President should handle his business, because we are handling ours,” Bass said.
The mayor’s comments come as the president signed the order Tuesday aimed at expediting the rebuilding a year after devastating fires torched entire city blocks and left thousands homeless.
Under Trump’s executive order, the heads of FEMA and the Small Business Administration will set regulations intended to let builders self-certify to a federal agency that they have complied with health, safety and building standards.
Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters
California Post News: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, YouTube, WhatsApp, LinkedIn
California Post SportsFacebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, X
California Post Opinion
California Post Newsletters: Sign up here!
California Post App: Download here!
Home delivery: Sign up here!
Page Six Hollywood: Sign up here!
“I want to see if we can take over the city and state and just give the people their permits they want to build,” Trump told the California Post Friday in an exclusive Oval Office interview when he signed the seven-page order.
Trump signed an executive order Tuesday aimed at expediting the rebuilding a year after fires destroyed entire city blocks. APEX / MEGABass said the order was “another meaningless political stunt” to distract from what is happening in Minnesota and other U.S. cities.
Trump had blamed California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Bass for the painfully slow rebuilding of homes.
“One of the greatest failures of elected political leadership in American history, from enabling the wildfires to failing to manage them, and it continues today with the abject failure to rebuild,” he said.
Newsom initially mocked Trump by saying “an executive order to rebuild Mars would do just as useful,” before pleading with the president for help.
“The feds need to release funding, not take over local permit approvals — the main obstacle is COMMUNITIES NOT HAVING THE MONEY TO REBUILD” the governor’s press office wrote.
“Mr. President, please actually help us. We are begging you. Release the federal disaster aid you’re withholding that will help communities rebuild their homes, schools, parks, and infrastructure,” the statement continued.
“Please help us. Please!”






