Will California Gov. Gavin Newsom have the guts to show up in Pacific Palisades on Wednesday morning, the first anniversary of the Palisades Fire, or will he continue to use victims as props for his political ambitions? That's the question on the minds of those who lost their small oceanside community as they prepare to memorialize those killed in the fires.
Community groups have planned multiple events to commemorate the anniversary; the two largest are the White Glove Flag Presentation and Remembrance Ceremony, which will "commemorate the twelve Palisadians who lost their lives and pay tribute to the countless individuals and groups who are helping the community recover and rebuild," and the They Let Us Burn rally, headlined by Palisades Fire victim Heidi Montag, "to demand accountability for a total breakdown in prevention, precaution and leadership" that led to the unnatural disaster.
DIVE DEEPER: 100 Days After Palisades Fire, an Accountability Check
Residents of Pacific Palisades and Altadena, the community decimated by the Eaton Fire the day after the Palisades Fire, are furious with Newsom for the failures that led to the fire and the bureaucratic nightmare they're still living through - and for using them as props for his political battles and campaigns, as he did during this interview Monday with MSNOW's Jacob Soboroff.
.@realDonaldTrump hasn't personally done a damn thing — not even lifted a finger — to help LA move from recovery to long-term rebuilding.
— Governor Gavin Newsom (@CAgovernor) January 6, 2026
And while he's cutting federal forest management and firefighting funds, I've doubled the size of @CAL_FIRE and fast-tracked state efforts. pic.twitter.com/suufaUnyAM
Newsom's team told the New York Post last week that he will be in the Los Angeles area on Wednesday, meeting with "wildfire survivors," but didn't elaborate on which survivors those are or if he would participate in any public events.
If he's smart, he will avoid Pacific Palisades. I've spoken to a few friends who are members of that community, some who lost everything and some whose homes survived, and none of them want him there to grandstand and suck up all the oxygen.
From one of those friends:
Please tell me Gavi isn’t coming to Palisades on Wednesday. Let us have our day.
— TC (@Dawgfan) January 6, 2026
San Francisco State University political science professor Jason McDaniel told the Post that the fallout from the wildfires, combined with rising housing and homeowner's insurance costs, "could be a ticking time bomb for Gavin Newsom’s campaign. This is not Rudy Giuliani after 9/11. It is a difficult political narrative, and it’s become more likely to be used [as] a sign of California mismanagement." McDaniel warned that "Grandstanding or making political hay out of the fire anniversary won’t be well-received."
Newsom doesn't seem to be heeding McDaniel's advice; his strategy is to "Blame Trump." Back to his MSNOW interview in which he claimed that Trump has "not even lifted a finger" to help. While the fire occurred during the last few weeks of Joe Biden's failed presidency, debris removal - which was performed and funded entirely by the federal government, through FEMA, EPA, and the Army Corps of Engineers - started in February, after Trump was inaugurated. Not surprisingly, Newsom now takes credit for their work.
Nearly 1 year since the devastating LA firestorms and we’ve had the fastest debris removal in modern US history.
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) January 6, 2026
Ever since, communities have been eagerly awaiting the White House for the federal disaster relief they are rightfully owed as taxpayers as they seek to recovery and… pic.twitter.com/WMwWDHBOMX
Quite different from his words back in February 2025 on CNN, in which he praised both Trump and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin:
"I will say this. This is true and it's factual and you gotta call balls and strikes. Lee Zeldin is doing an amazing job. He's on the ground today in Los Angeles. They are moving the first phase of the debris removal at record pace. And I think it's that mindset that we brought to the meeting and the mindset that came out of that meeting. The President wants to do something that's never been done, and that is, address this crisis with a degree of sophistication and focus, to get the job done and get people's lives back."
The internet is forever, and this 2/6/25 CNN clip tells a very different (and precisely accurate) story of the Trump Admin’s phenomenal response to the LA wildfires compared to Governor Newsom’s revisionist history today. pic.twitter.com/dSTArdkmCc https://t.co/eSPN87jSDG
— Lee Zeldin (@epaleezeldin) January 6, 2026
Lately, Newsom has been all over social media and lefty press interviews claiming that Trump and Congress are holding up critical federal aid, and members of the administration are hitting back.
Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Kelly Loeffler, who's actually been to the Palisades to work directly with victims, said, "In FY25, Los Angeles received $3.2 BILLION in SBA disaster loans. Despite historic relief funding by @SBAgov and hazardous material removal by @EPA, only a few survivors have been allowed to start rebuilding due to a failure of local permitting. One year later, homeowners and small business owners are still standing in the rubble, while California’s leaders keep them stranded in red tape."
FireAid Has Entered the Chat
And, the $34 billion in federal aid Newsom is asking for, one fire victim points out, is not for the fire victims: "The bulk goes to NGOs and patronage groups. It's like FireAid all over."
This clown has asked for $34 Billion in aid that does not go to fire victims. The bulk goes to NGOs and patronage groups. It’s like FireAid all over. Money should go direct to the Palisades, Malibu and Altadena. https://t.co/XG177tvglO https://t.co/vy3um9Efcm
— Ross (@therossg) January 6, 2026
And maybe that's why it hasn't been approved?
Coincidentally, on Tuesday afternoon, Rep. Jim Jordan and the House Judiciary Committee released the interim findings of their investigation into what happened to the $100 million FireAid raised in the wake of the fires, finding that "FireAid has diverted donations to third-party groups instead of providing direct relief to victims of the fires." From the report:
FireAid advertised that all donations raised during its benefit concert would go directly to victims of the California wildfires. Unfortunately, this was not the case. To date, FireAid has granted $75 million of the $100 million raised to a total of 188 non-profits, including $100,000 for voter participation efforts for Native Americans, $550,000 to groups involved in political advocacy, an unknown amount of money toward illegal aliens, $100,000 to podcasters, and over $500,000 for bonuses, salaries, and consultants for non-profit organizations.
The report contains infuriating examples of what this money was used for.
"A grant report dated February 2025 included a list of CORE’s 'priority groups' that it wanted to help with money [$250,000] it received from FireAid. Among those priority groups were 'Undocumented Migrants' because 'this group is at high risk of housing instability, economic hardship, exploitation, and homelessness.'"
If there are "undocumented migrants" who lost homes in the fires, it's a whole lot cheaper to send them home than to give them housing vouchers. But I'd bet that there weren't a whole lot of illegal aliens living in either Pacific Palisades or Altadena.
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And one podcaster who did not lose a home in the fire received a FireAid grant for her podcast.
"[G]rant forms showed that $100,000 in money raised at the benefit concert went to Altadena Talks Foundation for the purpose of “support[ing] the Toni Raines podcast and other shows . . . . The Altadena Talks Foundation is an organization with a mission of standing “as a beacon of hope and healing – committed to uplifting lives through disaster recovery, resilience, and lasting community support.”
Raines is a “systems administrator consultant specializing in software for searching, monitoring, and analyzing machine-generated data," according to the Altadena Talks website. The House Judiciary Committee report says, "She has been heavily involved in the tech industry but found herself speaking about the California wildfires on her podcast, applied for a FireAid grant, and received funds." Clearly, an argument can be made for the utility of a community podcast disseminating information about rebuilding aid and programs, but other groups can fund that. That isn't what FireAid funds are for.
In addition, FireAid provided $500,000 to a group called the “Black Music Action Coalition.” This organization’s mission is to “create a unified force of action for racial equity and justice within the music industry and to use the power of our collective voice to improve communities and drive systematic change.” The Black Music Action Coalition is involved in advocacy— lobbying the California state legislature to pass various policies.
So, essentially, they're a political advocacy group, likely only tangentially related to fire victims. The House Judiciary Committee was unable to determine how much, if any, of the funds went directly to help fire victims.
RedState will be on the ground in Pacific Palisades on Wednesday; watch our X account for videos, interviews, and photos from the commemorative events.
The entire FireAid interim report can be read below.
FireAid report January 6, 2026 by Jennifer Van Laar
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