Trump Signs Executive Order to Speed Up Rebuilding LA After Devastating Fires

President Trump is sidestepping thumb-twiddling California Democrats with an executive order aimed at fast-tracking the rebuilding of Los Angeles a year after devastating wildfires torched entire city blocks and left thousands homeless.

"I want to see if we can take over the city and state and just give the people their permits they want to build," Trump told the California Post Friday in an exclusive Oval Office interview when he signed the seven-page order.

Trump pointed the finger at California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass for the painfully slow rebuilding of homes ravaged by the January 2025 Pacific Palisades and Eaton fires, two of the most destructive blazes in LA history.

Wildfires destroyed an estimated 16,000 structures, but Los Angeles city and county officials have only issued 2,600 permits to rebuild so far.

In all, less than 15% of all homes destroyed by the fires have received necessary approvals to move forward, according to the Trump administration.

Trump's order is designed to "preempt" the building permit process -- and empower the federal government to maneuver around the needless obstacles imposed by Democratic leaders.

The order calls out the "nightmare" of delays and "bureaucratic malaise" at the California state and local levels -- and it will almost certainly be challenged by Democrats in power in the Golden State, despite displaced residents literally crying out to be made whole again.

Jessica Rogers, a Pacific Palisades resident who lost everything in the wildfires, burst into tears of joy when she learned the federal government was stepping in to pick up the slack.

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Trump, a former real estate developer, said he was compelled to step in after touring the fire damage a year ago with first lady Melania Trump and seeing the devastation firsthand. He said he was shocked to see that even a year later, "there's nobody building."

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Under the order, the heads of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Small Business Administration (SBA) will issue regulations to preempt state and local permitting requirements and allow builders to self-certify to a federal agency that they have complied with health, safety and building standards.

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