President Trump Threatens Federal Intervention if California Doesn’t do More to Solve Homeless Crisis

President Donald Trump criticized California Governor Gavin Newsom and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi over crime and homelessness on Twitter Wednesday, coming only days after a HUD report showing huge homelessness gains in California.

“Governor Gavin N has done a really bad job on taking care of the homeless population in California,” said President Trump in a tweet. “If he can’t fix the problem, the Federal Govt. will get involved!”

President Trump followed up that tweet with another focusing on House Speaker Pelosi.

“Nancy Pelosi’s District in California has rapidly become one of the worst anywhere in the U.S. when it come to the homeless & crime,” tweeted Trump. “It has gotten so bad, so fast – she has lost total control and, along with her equally incompetent governor, Gavin Newsom, it is a very sad sight!”

Trump’s Christmas Day tweets are the latest in the feud between prominent California lawmakers and the Trump administration over a variety of issues ranging from car emissions standards to wildfire control. The tweets also come after both a HUD report showing a large growth of homelessness in California and Governor Newsom blaming the Trump administration for higher levels of homelessness in California by blocking funding.

“We have work to do and we need the federal government to do its part,” decreed Governor Newsom earlier this month. ” These are politicized roadblocks put up by the Trump administration.”

Governor Newsom and the majority of California lawmakers also made it known where they stand on Trump’s impeachment from office, which may be another reason for President Trump to threaten federal intervention in California.

“Trump has spent 2019 attacking our institutions and fellow Americans,” stated Governor Newsom earlier in the week. “Locking kids in cages. Sucking up to the NRA. Trying to take your healthcare away. Giving tax cuts to the wealthy. And denying climate change. So we’re leaving him in the dust.”

President Trump had previously threatened federal intervention in California in September, where he said he would have the EPA give cities such as San Francisco ‘notice’ over environmental issues allegedly stemming from the homeless population.

“Ultimately it’s just another threat,” said Mark Davis, a homeless advocate in Los Angeles. “California dug itself into this mess, and while federal money would help, California just didn’t keep up with having affordable places to live and didn’t keep up with programs designed around alleviating homelessness. And Trump, well, federal intervention wouldn’t do that much if they can’t really solve the main problems faster than California if left to their own devices.”

“Both sides have a lot of issues going on right now, and in the end, it’s sad to see both of them using a huge problem like homelessness as a fighting issue rather than working together to help solve it. There’s a lot at stake for everybody.”

More bills addressing homeless issues are expected to come before the California legislature next month, while new federal programs to combat homelessness are expected sometime in the next year.