Donald Trump used his inauguration speech to whine about tech billionaires’ homes being burnt down.
During his address Monday, Trump whined about the federal government’s response to natural disasters.
“Our country can no longer deliver basic services in times of emergency,” he groused.
Trump cited people in North Carolina still struggling from the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. In Los Angeles, “we are watching fires still tragically burn from weeks ago without even a token of defense,” Trump said.
“They’re raging through the houses and communities, even affecting some of the wealthiest and most powerful individuals in our country. Some of whom are sitting here right now,” Trump said, smiling slightly at the reminder of his Silicon Valley invites, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, and Sundar Pichai.
“They don’t have a home any longer,” Trump mused. “That’s interesting.”
In fact, not a single one of these men appear to have lost their home in the Los Angeles wildfires.
Crucially, these aren’t the kinds of guys who can lose a lot by losing just one residence: each one owns an extensive property portfolio worth hundreds of million dollars. Bezos’s is worth $500 million, and Zuckerberg’s is $200 million. Meanwhile, Musk owns several properties, though his primary home is a $50,000 tiny home in Texas, near SpaceX’s headquarters. So maybe the president could save his tears for the people who have lost their actual homes.
Rather than actually acknowledging the devastating and widespread impacts of natural disasters, Trump’s comment merely suggests his special affinity for tech billionaires. After all, it’s Trump and his fellow Republicans who are ensuring those affected by the wildfires stay struggling by insisting that no disaster aid will be provided to California until the state agrees to reinstall Trump-era policies.
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