Polis seeks FEMA aid from Trump, but it's a tenuous ask
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Gov. Jared Polis (left) and Pueblo County Sheriff David Lucero provide an update on the Aspen Acres Fire on July 2. Photo: RJ Sangosti/Denver Post via Getty Images
President Trump's feud with Colorado faces a high-stakes test as Gov. Jared Polis seeks federal disaster aid for two devastating wildfires.
Why it matters: Trump rejected two Colorado disaster-aid requests tied to two wildfires last year amid escalating clashes with the state.
- Since then, Colorado and the White House have sparred over federal funding, mail voting, Tina Peters, climate research and U.S. Space Command.
Driving the news: Polis formally requested a major disaster declaration Sunday for the Aspen Acres and Gold Mountain fires and subsequent flooding in their burn scars.
- Colorado has spent about $266 million responding to the disasters and has validated about $18 million in damage, officials said.
Federal Emergency Management Agency money would provide individual and public assistance in Pueblo and Custer counties for the Aspen Acres Fire and public support for Ouray County after the Gold Mountain Fire.
- Individual assistance can cover temporary housing, home repairs and crisis counseling.
- Public assistance helps state and local entities remove debris as well as repair roads and water systems.
What he's saying: "These disasters clearly meet all the requirements … and the flooding and debris flows that followed have caused further destruction and claimed a life," Polis said in a statement.
Catch up quick: The Aspen Acres Fire outside Pueblo — currently 74% contained — has destroyed more than 300 homes and burned 102,000 acres, making it the seventh-largest fire in state history and the most destructive since the 2021 Marshall Fire.
- The Gold Mountain Fire, which started two days earlier and has torched about 40,000 acres, is 87% contained.
The big picture: Trump's tensions with Colorado have repeatedly spilled into fights over federal dollars.
- A newly surfaced memo shows the Trump administration looked to punish the state over its mail-ballot election system.
To help its case, the state is presenting a united front. Every member of the state's congressional delegation — including four Republicans — sent a separate letter asking Trump to grant the emergency declaration.
What we're watching: Whether Polis' decision in May to side with Trump and commute the sentence of former Mesa County clerk Tina Peters — who was serving a roughly nine-year sentence for election tampering — may have placated the president, for now.