President Donald Trump declared Thursday during a Cabinet meeting that he would prevent federal funds from being used to build low-income housing in the Pacific Palisades, an affluent Los Angeles neighborhood still recovering from last year’s wildfires.
“They want to build a low-income housing project right in the middle of everything in Palisades, and I’m not going to allow it to happen,” Trump said. “I’m not going to let these people destroy the value of their houses. I built a lot of low-income housing. I made a lot of money building low-income housing.”
According to Fox News, Trump’s remarks continued with criticism of local fire management and infrastructure policies.
“We’re not going to allow this guy to build a low-income housing project on top of everything else in the middle of that mess that was created by the fact that they didn’t allow water to come down from the Pacific Northwest,” he said, blaming previous officials for poor resource management during the fires.
During the meeting, Trump instructed Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin to ensure residents seeking permits to rebuild their homes could obtain them quickly. He also tasked Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent with blocking California from receiving financing for the proposed Palisades housing project.
California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office pushed back, clarifying that federal funds were not intended solely for the Palisades.
“This funding is not limited to the Palisades. It supports affordable housing in multiple wildfire-impacted communities, including Altadena,” Newsom’s office said in a July post on X. The statement added that the governor had eased certain rebuilding mandates in coastal zones to speed recovery while preserving existing affordable housing.
In July 2025, six months after the fires, Newsom and the California Department of Housing and Community Development announced $101 million to rebuild critically needed affordable multifamily rental housing across Los Angeles County.
“Thousands of families — from Pacific Palisades to Altadena to Malibu — are still displaced, and we owe it to them to help,” Newsom said. “The funding we’re announcing today will accelerate the development of affordable multifamily rental housing so that those rebuilding their lives after this tragedy have access to a safe, affordable place to come home to.”
The initiative includes grants for disaster-resilient infrastructure, low-interest loans for new units, and reserve funds to ensure projects remain financially viable. All housing developed under the program must remain affordable for 55 years.
Trump’s opposition signals a new flashpoint between the federal government and California officials over post-disaster housing policy in high-income areas.
