Former President Donald Trump announced the approval of more than $846 million in disaster relief funds for nine states on Tuesday evening, using his social media platform to combine the aid announcements with endorsements for Republican candidates in those states.

The approvals come amid widespread severe weather events across the United States, including wildfires, extreme heat, and flash flooding. In one of his social media posts, Trump stated, "I am pleased to announce that the Great State of Louisiana has been approved to be given $8.6 Million Dollars in its Disaster Declaration Request. Louisiana is truly a special place, with Governor Jeff Landry, Senator John Kennedy, soon to be Senator Julia Letlow, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, and Congressman Clay Higgins."

However, an analysis by the nonpartisan think tank Urban Institute suggests a pattern of partisan disparities in the approval of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) disaster aid requests under Trump. The analysis indicates that Trump has repeatedly approved a higher percentage of aid requests for Republican-leaning states than for Democratic-leaning ones.

According to an analysis of public FEMA data by Andrew Rumbach, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute, nearly 84% of disaster requests from states that voted for Trump in 2024 were approved. This contrasts with approximately 42% of requests from states that voted for Kamala Harris.

This pattern is not new. In April, Trump reportedly rejected aid requests from Colorado's Democratic Governor Jared Polis related to wildfires and flooding. The previous year, more than 19 states, primarily led by Democratic attorneys general, sued the Trump administration for allegedly withholding FEMA funds.

Further examples include Trump denying Washington state's request for aid following a bomb cyclone storm in November. FEMA had documented $34 million in damages from the storms and flooding, yet both the initial request from then-Governor Jay Inslee and a later appeal from current Governor Bob Ferguson were denied.

The disaster aid approvals announced Tuesday mirrored this trend, with all nine states whose requests were approved having voted for Trump in the 2024 election. When asked for comment on the disproportionate disaster aid approvals to Republican-leaning states, a White House spokeswoman stated that President Trump "provides a more thorough review of disaster declaration requests than any Administration has before him."

The spokeswoman added, "The President responds to each request for Federal assistance 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."