President Trump\u2019s foray this week into the fire rebuilding process in Pacific Palisades has been met with confusion and rolled eyes from local officials who say he\u2019s now railing against projects that have never even been proposed.<\/p>\n
Trump said Thursday he planned to stop a low-income housing project from being developed in Pacific Palisades. His promise, made during a Cabinet meeting, marked the second time this week<\/a> he has weighed in on local housing issues in the fire-scarred Palisades.<\/p>\n \u201cThey want to build a low-income housing project right in the middle of everything in the Palisades, and I\u2019m not going to allow it to happen,\u201d Trump said. \u201cI\u2019m not going to let these people destroy the value of their houses.\u201d<\/p>\n The comments left politicians around Los Angeles and California scratching their heads: what low-income housing project was the president referring to?<\/p>\n Both Councilmember Traci Park and Mayor Karen Bass said they did not know of a major, low-income housing project coming to the Palisades. <\/p>\n \u201cThere are no plans to bring low-income housing to the Palisades,\u201d Bass said in a phone interview with The Times on Thursday from Washington, D.C. \u201cIt\u2019s not true. There couldn\u2019t possibly be a project that neither the councilmember nor the mayor would have any knowledge of.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump also took aim at Bass and Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday as he announced an executive order<\/a> to \u201cpreempt\u201d the city\u2019s permitting process to make it easier for fire victims to rebuild.<\/p>\n The order, if implemented, would allow residents to self-certify to federal authorities instead of going through city bureaucracy for permits. <\/p>\n Bass said Thursday that she would welcome an executive order that would bring the insurance and banking industries together to help Angelenos whose houses burned down get more significant insurance payouts and longer-term mortgages.<\/p>\n The Governor\u2019s Office also said they had no idea what low-income housing project Trump was referring to on Thursday.<\/p>\n \u201cThe president of the United States is a bumbling idiot and has no idea what he\u2019s talking about,\u201d said Izzy Gardon, a spokesperson for Newsom. \u201cThis narrative that Gavin Newsom is trying to build high-density, low-income housing in the Palisades and turn them into \u2018Newsomvilles\u2019 is absurd.\u201d<\/p>\n Gardon said the state is providing resources for developers to rebuild below-market-rate housing that was destroyed in the Palisades fire, which tore through the beach-side enclave in January 2025, killing 12 and destroying thousands of homes<\/a> and structures.<\/p>\n