Donald Trump Calls California Firefighters and FEMA 'Amazing' Days After Bashing Management of Fires

Just days after bashing California's "gross mismanagement" of the deadly wildfires scorching the West Coast, President Donald Trump offered firefighters and FEMA first responders words of praise on Twitter.

"The California Fire Fighters, FEMA and First Responders are amazing and very brave," Trump wrote on Monday. "Thank you and God Bless you all!"

The California Fire Fighters, FEMA and First Responders are amazing and very brave. Thank you and God Bless you all!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 12, 2018

It was a change of tune compared to tweets Trump wrote last weekend, including one message in which he threatened to dissolve federal payments made to the state.

"There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor. Billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost, all because of gross management of the forests. Remedy now, or no more Fed payments!" he wrote on Saturday.

Trump continued his rhetoric on Sunday, writing on Twitter, "With proper Forest Management, we can stop the devastation constantly going on in California. Get smart!"

The president's comments sparked instant and widespread outrage, including from leaders of firefighter organizations and first responders. Harold Schaitberger, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters, said the president's comments were "reckless and insulting to the firefighters and people being affected."

Brian K. Rice, president of California Professional Firefighters, shared Schaitberger's sentiments, saying that blaming forest management policies for the Camp Fire in Northern California was "dangerously wrong."

"The President's message attacking California and threatening to withhold aid to the victims of the cataclysmic fires is ill-informed, ill-timed and demeaning to those who are suffering as well as the men and women on the front lines," Rice said in a November 5 statement. "In my view, this shameful attack on California is an attack on all our courageous men and women on the front lines."

He continued: "Wildfires are sparked and spread not only in forested areas but in populated areas and open fields fueled by parched vegetation, high winds, low humidity and geography."

Multiple wildfires wreaked havoc on California's communities in recent days. At least 31 people were killed by the fires after officials discovered additional remains on Sunday. The Camp Fire has scorched more than 108,000 acres of land in Northern California, while the Woolsey Fire near Los Angeles has burned roughly 83,275 acres. The Hill Fire in Ventura County has decimated more than 4,500 acres of land.

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Michigan native, Janice Williams is a graduate of Oakland University where she studied journalism and communication. Upon relocating to New ... Read more

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