Colorado Leaders Call for Trump to Reconsider Denial of Emergency Disaster Aid

By Brian Freeman | Sunday, 21 December 2025 08:21 PM EST

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and the state’s two senators have urged President Donald Trump to reconsider his decision on Saturday night to deny requests for two separate disaster declarations.

These federal declarations would unlock FEMA funding to support recovery efforts for each disaster, providing critical aid to affected residents and businesses.

Meanwhile, leaders in Washington are preparing to request a disaster declaration for historic flooding that occurred earlier this month.

Polis stated: “Coloradans impacted by the Elk and Lee fires and the flooding in Southwestern Colorado deserve better than the political games President Trump is playing. One of the most amazing things to witness as governor has been the resilience of Coloradans following a natural disaster. Their courage, strength, and willingness to help one another is unmatched – values that President Trump seems to have forgotten.”

Polis added: “I call on the president’s better angels and urge him to reconsider these requests. This is about the Coloradans who need this support, and we won’t stop fighting for them to get what they deserve.”

A White House spokesperson, Abigail Jackson, said the administration deployed Air National Guard aircraft to assist Colorado during the Lee and Elk fires. She added that Trump evaluates disaster-aid requests carefully “under the Stafford Act with great care and consideration, ensuring American tax dollars are used appropriately and efficiently by the states to supplement – not substitute, their obligation to respond to and recover from disasters.”