唐纳德·特朗普总统对加州和纽约州领导人声称他一直拒绝提供无家可归者援助的回应是,告诉他们的州长打电话“礼貌地”向他寻求帮助。
特朗普似乎证实了加州州长加文·纽瑟姆本月早些时候的言论,即白宫和美国住房和城市发展部正在将无家可归者援助问题“武器化和政治化”。加利福尼亚州和纽约州分别有民主党州长纽森和安德鲁·科莫,最近宣布了数百万美元的项目,支持无家可归的个人、家庭和退伍军人住房。特朗普有亲自抨击加州无家可归者收容所的官员和露宿街头的人,最终导致11月15日美国无家可归问题机构间委员会执行主任马修·多尔蒂被突然解雇。
纽森回应特朗普政府的举措,聘请多尔蒂为加州无家可归问题的新国家顾问。批评家们指出,特朗普要求用细节换取援助,这令人奇怪地想起了在乌克兰问题上对他的指控。
“加州和纽约必须为他们巨大的无家可归者问题做点什么。他们正在创造记录!如果他们的州长不能处理这种情况,他们应该能够很容易地处理,他们必须打电话“礼貌地”寻求帮助。有能力就容易了!”
本月早些时候,纽森表达了他对特朗普政府和联邦政府在回应该州求助时拖拖拉拉的失望。他确认向加州各县市拨款6.5亿美元解决无家可归问题,但抱怨住房和城市发展部没有核实拨款所需无家可归者的实际人数。
“尽管特朗普政府不愿意认证点击率来允许我们分配这笔钱,我们还是这样做了,”加州州长讲述沙漠太阳报纸。"他们正在把这个问题武器化和政治化,所以我们将围绕他们工作,并提供75%的资金,同时等待住房和城市发展部核实计数。"
纽森的发言人杰西·梅尔加告诉记者今日美国11月份,加州人正在寻找“真正解决无家可归问题的方法,而不是政治戏剧和记分法”...加州继续准备参与,但联邦官员尚未与该州联系。”
纽森告诉记者:“今天的声明真正是关于人类的。”沙漠太阳12月初,他指出地方政府官员也应受到部分指责。"这是关于提升人们,而不是降低他们."
特朗普一再指责加州领导人,包括纽森和代表海湾地区的众议院议长南希·佩洛西。特朗普在9月份前往加州之前对空军一号上的记者说:“旧金山人民已经受够了,洛杉矶人民也受够了,我们正在研究这个问题,我们将在适当的时候采取措施。”。
特朗普补充道:“我们不能让洛杉矶、旧金山和许多其他城市因允许正在发生的事情而毁灭自己。”。
特朗普让联邦政府介入解决无家可归问题的计划鲜有具体细节公布。但是9月份经济顾问委员会的一份报告敦促解除对住房的管制。
周六下午,特朗普在推特上瞄准了库莫:
“看到纽约市和州政府分崩离析,我很难过。他们想做的只是调查,让我更加讨厌他们。科莫州长失去了控制,失去了理智。对无家可归者和所有人来说都很糟糕!”
在纽约,库莫受到赞扬无家可归者积极分子为遏制该州破纪录的危机所做的努力,在他的任期开始时,该州有40,000多名无家可归的纽约人。上个月,他的办公室宣布为旨在为无家可归的个人、家庭和退伍军人提供住房援助的15个项目拨款5650万美元。一些批评家敦促他争取租金补贴,而不是向MTA交通官员和避难所施压,要求他们处理无家可归者。
美国东部时间下午4:24更新特朗普关于安德鲁·库莫的推文。
特朗普总统告诉纽约州和加利福尼亚州“礼貌地”打电话请求无家可归者援助,加文·纽瑟姆州长此前曾表示,出于政治目的,他一直拒绝提供这种援助。
TRUMP RESPONDS TO NEW YORK AND CALIFORNIA HOMELESS CRISES, SAYS CALL AND ASK 'POLITELY' FOR HELP
President Donald Trump responded to California and New York state leaders' claims he'd been withholding homelessness aid by telling their governors to call and ask him "politely" for help.
Trump appeared to confirm California Governor Gavin Newsom's comments earlier this month that the White House and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) are "weaponizing and politicizing" the issue of homelessness aid. Both California and New York, who respectively have Democratic governors Newsom and Andrew Cuomo, recently announced multi-million dollar programs to support homeless individuals, families and housing for military veterans. Trump has personally blastedCalifornia officials over homeless shelters and people sleeping in streets, which culminated with the abrupt dismissal of U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Matthew Doherty on November 15.
Newsom responded to the Trump administration move by hiring Doherty as California's new national consultant on homelessness issues. Trump's demand for niceties in exchange for aid is eerily reminiscent of accusations made against him in regards to Ukraine, critics have noted.
"California and New York must do something about their TREMENDOUS Homeless problems. They are setting records! If their Governors can't handle the situation, which they should be able to do very easily, they must call and "politely" ask for help. Would be so easy with competence!"
Newsom earlier this month expressed his frustration at the Trump administration and the federal government dragging their feet in response to the state's requests for help. He confirmed the allocation of $650 million to California counties and cities to address homelessness, but complained HUD had not followed through in verifying the physical count of homeless individuals required for funding allocations.
"We are doing this despite the Trump administration's unwillingness to certify the PIT count to allow us to allocate this money," the California governor told The Desert Sun newspaper. "They are weaponizing and politicizing this issue, so we will work around them and provide 75% of the funding while we wait for HUD to verify the count numbers."
Jesse Melgar, a spokesman for Newsom, told USA Today in November that Californians are seeking "real solutions to homelessness instead of political theater and points-scoring...California continues to be ready to engage but the state has not been contacted by federal officials."
"This announcement today is really about humanity," Newsom told The Desert Sun in early December, noting that local government officials are also partially to blame. "It is about lifting people up, not bringing them down."
Trump has repeatedly railed against California leaders including Newsom and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who represents the Bay Area. "The people of San Francisco are fed up and the people of Los Angeles are fed up, and we're looking at it, and we will be doing something about it at the appropriate time," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One before a September to trip to California.
"We can't let Los Angeles, San Francisco and numerous other cities destroy themselves by allowing what's happening," Trump added.
Few tangible details about Trump's plan to have the federal government step in to deal with homelessness have been released. But a September Council of Economic Advisers report urged the deregulate housing.
On Saturday afternoon, Trump took aim at Cuomo in a tweet:
"So sad to see that New York City and State are falling apart. All they want to do is investigate to make me hate them even more than I should. Governor Cuomo has lost control, and lost his mind. Very bad for the homeless and all!"
In New York, Cuomo has been commended by homelessness activists for his push to curb the state's record-breaking crisis, which saw more than 40,000 homeless New Yorkers at the beginning of his term. Last month, his office announced $56.5 million in state funds for 15 projects aimed at providing homeless individuals, families and veterans housing assistance. Some criticshave urged him to push for rent subsidies instead of pressuring MTA transit officials and shelters to deal with the homeless.
Updated 4:24 PM ET with Trump's tweet about Andrew Cuomo.
President Trump told New York and California to "politely" call and ask for homelessness aid that Governor Gavin Newsom previously said he'd been withholding for political purposes.