Late last year, Donald Trump announced that he had approved federal disaster aid for Montana, while adding in his online statement, “I LOVE MONTANA!”

The Republican’s affection, however, should’ve been irrelevant. Decisions about federal relief are supposed to be made on the merits, not the president’s personal affinity for a state.

The statement nevertheless came on the heels of a related Trump announcement about disaster aid for Missouri, which emphasized the number of times he has won Missouri’s electoral votes — as if there was a connection between his political support in the state and his eagerness to provide federal relief. (In the same statement, he went on to mention the “incredible Patriots” in the GOP stronghold.)

This came to mind anew this week, as Trump published a lengthy series of items online late Tuesday afternoon, announcing his approval of disaster aid. The statements weren’t exactly subtle:

• Florida: The president wrote that he had approved $415.9 million in federal disaster relief, adding, “Much of it is going to one of my favorite places in the entire World, the Panhandle!” Florida’s Panhandle is one of the most politically conservative parts of the state.
• Kansas: Trump wrote that he had approved $5.5 million in federal disaster relief after speaking with Sen. Roger Marshall — a Republican incumbent who just happens to be running for re-election — adding, “I love the incredible people of Kansas, and they will soon have a fantastic Governor in Ty Masterson, who has my Complete and Total Endorsement.”
• Michigan: The president wrote that he had approved $32.1 million in federal disaster aid before adding, “The people of Michigan are in good hands with ‘Trump Endorsed’ Mike Rogers, who is running for U.S. Senate, John James for Governor, and Congressmen Jack Bergman, John Moolenaar, Bill Huizenga, Tim Walberg, Tom Barrett, and Lisa McClain.”
• Louisiana: Trump wrote that he had approved $8.6 million in federal disaster relief before adding, “Louisiana is truly a special place, with Governor Jeff Landry, Senator John Kennedy, soon to be Senator Julia Letlow, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, and Congressman Clay Higgins.”
• Wisconsin: The president wrote that he had approved $22.6 million in federal disaster relief after speaking to Rep. Tom Tiffany, “who has my Complete and Total Endorsement for Governor!” The same statement also said, “The wonderful people of Wisconsin are in good hands with Tom, alongside Senator Ron Johnson, and ‘Trump Endorsed’ Congressmen Bryan Steil, Derrick Van Orden, Scott Fitzgerald, Glenn Grothman, and Tony Wied.”
• Idaho: Trump wrote that he had approved $4.5 million in federal disaster aid after speaking with Republican Gov. Brad Little, “who has my Complete and Total Endorsement for Re-Election!”

The president, in other words, has simply dropped any pretense of propriety. He stopped hinting about a connection between his election goals and federal disaster assistance, and started making the connection overt.

This deserves to be seen as an important controversy on its own terms: In American history, no president of either party has ever included campaign endorsements when announcing disaster aid. But making matters worse is the larger context.

Politico reported in March, “President Donald Trump has rejected disaster aid for Democratic-run states at the highest rate in the 47-year history of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.”

The same report, relying entirely on FEMA data, found that the Republican administration’s approval of federal relief for red states inched higher during the first year of Trump’s second term, while approval of aid to blue states collapsed to unprecedented levels.

“Never in my lifetime has a president treated disaster relief as a political cudgel,” Washington Sen. Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, said in response to the data. “What President Trump has done to politicize disaster relief and hold up support for Americans who need it — including my constituents in Washington state — is frankly unforgivable.”

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