President Trump’s foray this week into the fireplace rebuilding course of in Pacific Palisades has been met with confusion and rolled eyes from native officers who say he’s now railing in opposition to tasks which have by no means even been proposed.
Trump mentioned Thursday he deliberate to cease a low-income housing undertaking from being developed in Pacific Palisades. His promise, made throughout a Cupboard assembly, marked the second time this week he has weighed in on native housing points within the fire-scarred Palisades.
“They wish to construct a low-income housing undertaking proper in the midst of the whole lot within the Palisades, and I’m not going to permit it to occur,” Trump mentioned. “I’m not going to let these individuals destroy the worth of their homes.”
The feedback left politicians round Los Angeles and California scratching their heads: what low-income housing undertaking was the president referring to?
Each Councilmember Traci Park and Mayor Karen Bass mentioned they didn’t know of a serious, low-income housing undertaking coming to the Palisades.
“There are not any plans to carry low-income housing to the Palisades,” Bass mentioned in a telephone interview with The Occasions on Thursday from Washington, D.C. “It’s not true. There couldn’t probably be a undertaking that neither the councilmember nor the mayor would have any data of.”
Trump additionally took purpose at Bass and Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday as he introduced an government order to “preempt” town’s allowing course of to make it simpler for hearth victims to rebuild.
The order, if applied, would permit residents to self-certify to federal authorities as an alternative of going by means of metropolis paperwork for permits.
Bass mentioned Thursday that she would welcome an government order that may carry the insurance coverage and banking industries collectively to assist Angelenos whose homes burned down get extra important insurance coverage payouts and longer-term mortgages.
The Governor’s Workplace additionally mentioned they’d no concept what low-income housing undertaking Trump was referring to on Thursday.
“The president of america is a bumbling fool and has no concept what he’s speaking about,” mentioned Izzy Gardon, a spokesperson for Newsom. “This narrative that Gavin Newsom is making an attempt to construct high-density, low-income housing within the Palisades and switch them into ‘Newsomvilles’ is absurd.”
Gardon mentioned the state is offering sources for builders to rebuild below-market-rate housing that was destroyed within the Palisades hearth, which tore by means of the beach-side enclave in January 2025, killing 12 and destroying 1000’s of properties and constructions.
In July, the governor dedicated $101 million to assist rebuilding efforts of “inexpensive multifamily rental housing within the fire-devastated Los Angeles area.”
The financing was for areas affected by each the Palisades and Eaton fires.
This system permits inexpensive housing builders to use for financing and prioritizes tasks which can be close to wildfire burn areas, prepared for rapid building.
This system required the developments to stay inexpensive for greater than a half-century to obtain the funding.
Trump didn’t specify Thursday whether or not he was talking in regards to the July announcement or a few particular undertaking.
“That was cash that went to the L.A. space for the 4 communities impacted by the fires to assist builders to rebuild low-income mixed-use housing that was destroyed by the fires,” Gardon mentioned.
Maryam Zar, a Palisades resident, mentioned that many within the Palisades feared a brand new undertaking on the location of a Shell fuel station that developer Justin Kohanoff mentioned he needed to construct into an eight-story, 100-unit, low-income constructing.
Kohanoff’s father, Saeed Kohanoff, declined to remark past saying the household has no rapid plans to develop the property.
The Trump administration didn’t instantly specify what low-income housing undertaking, if any particularly, the president was talking about.
