Over the past few weeks, the city of Los Angeles has been devastated by wildfires.

To claim that the authorities were ill-prepared would be an understatement, because it would imply that they were prepared, but just not sufficiently enough for the scale of fires that occurred.

The fact is both California state officials and L.A. officials were not prepared at all for the fires.

Had the wildfires occurred unexpectedly, the authorities could have been forgiven. But in the case of California, hazardous wildfires have been occurring for the past 25 years.

We also learned that California governor Gavin Newsom cut $100 million, and L.A. mayor Bass cut $49 million, from the state’s and city’s fire prevention budget, respectively.

Following the devastating wildfires in 2018, President Trump warned Newsom about the importance of forest management:

FLASHBACK: Trump stood next to Gavin Newsom and stressed the importance of proper forest management after wildfires swept through California in 2018 pic.twitter.com/tE7ds4mxij

— johnny maga (@_johnnymaga) January 8, 2025

But those words fell on deaf ears. As expected the media called Trump's ideas bizarre. Alas for the suffering residents of Los Angeles, the fires weren’t the only evils they had to combat. 

While facing unspeakable loss, they also had to face another nefarious force — bureaucratic red tape.

The very authorities whose blatant dereliction of duty allowed the fires to ravage their properties placed additional impediments to citizens’ attempts to begin the long journey of restoring their lives. President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump traveled to the locations of devastation to commiserate with suffering residents. President Trump also held a press conference alongside L.A. Mayor Bass and Pacific Palisades residents, during which some shocking revelations were made.

Palisades residents revealed that they had been told that clearing the debris from their properties would take 18 months due to the local permitting processes. It was also revealed that most of the affected residents had been prohibited from even visiting the remains of their devastated homes. This caused President Trump to confront Mayor Bass and demand that she use her “emergency powers” and allow residents to return to their homes to initiate the rebuilding process.

The exchange caused outrage on social media, many were shocked to see how mendacious, ill-prepared, and apathetic Bass appeared and sounded. Bass seemed to sport a smile during the exchange which also seemed exceedingly insensitive.

🚨 BREAKING: LA Mayor Karen Bass and Trump with a very tense exchange now... Bass is losing her cool over insistence from community members and Trump who say that clearly, people aren't being allowed back on their property soon enough.

TRUMP: People are willing to clean up… pic.twitter.com/k2w9KcB88l

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) January 25, 2025

In response to the 18-month restriction claim, Bass claimed that if individuals wanted to clear access to their property, they could. When another Palisades resident confronted Bass and corroborated the 18-month restriction, Bass altered her stance claiming that residents would be able to return to their properties within a week.

“A week is actually a long time,” Trump reprimanded the mayor. Bass attempted to cite safety reasons for restricting residents from accessing their properties.

Trump displayed common sense, which seems to be uncommon among L.A. authorities:

They’re [L.A. residents] not safe now… A week is a long time… I see hundreds of people not allowed to go on their lots. It won’t burn anymore... it’s done. They want to clean up. They are just standing there, saying they need a permit. Everyone says 18 months.

Trump revealed that people were willing to participate in the clean-up rather than “wait around for seven months until the city hires some demolition contractor that’s gonna charge him $25,000 to do his lot.”

President Trump also pledged to hasten rebuilding by waiving any federal permits and that he would pressure California officials to do the same: “We’re going to essentially waive all federal permits,” Trump said. “I’m going to override the Coastal Commission, I’m not going to let them get away with their antics.”

Some sections of the media, as expected, called Trump’s claims bizarre and devoid of facts. For citizens across the country, watching the exchange was like watching justice being delivered. The authorities, particularly Democrat leaders, seldom face the consequences for their incompetence and inactions. Trump received great support for confronting Bass to her face and demonstrating her inadequacies. But many rightly wondered if any change would occur on the ground after the exchange.

Breitbart News reported that the Palisades County authorities agreed to let residents access their properties from 27 January 2025. It seems outrageous that governmental authorities could prevent citizens from accessing their personal properties. This is how governments exploit emergencies such as the California wildfires to creep into citizens’ personal spaces. Once the government creeps in, it never leaves.

Thanks to President Trump’s tough stand and common sense suggestions, the authorities stood down from their unreasonable stance.

It is said that during times of tyranny and deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act. President Trump proved to be that revolutionary for L.A. residents who stood up to the tyranny of Mayor Bass and her cohorts during their times of need. In just two days, Trump managed to reduce the restriction time of property access from 18 months to a week, then finally to immediate access.

🚨 Trump just had a 1-on-1 exchange with Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass regarding the wildfires.

This is so, so refreshing. Just watch.

TRUMP: Groups are saying they can't start [rebuilding] for 18 months.

MAYOR KAREN BASS: No. You can hold me to that.

TRUMP: 4 groups said… pic.twitter.com/aSL4B56hmy

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) January 25, 2025

Trump must also implement a suggestion from Editor-at-Large Joel Pollak and appoint a fire czar who will ensure that all the funds dispatched by the federal government in response to the wildfires will only be used to rebuild affected cities and prevent future fires from occurring.

Image from X.