President Trump’s executive order to fast-track the rebuilding of Los Angeles after the wildfires has resulted in almost 2,000 permits approved since it was signed in January, The Post can exclusively reveal.
Trump’s order let state and local rules be preempted when it came to obtaining permits and allowed builders to “self-certify” that they have complied with “substantive health, safety and building standards.”
The result of the administration’s take over was the approval of thousands of permits for people to begin the rebuilding process of homes and businesses ravaged by the January 2025 Pacific Palisades and Eaton fires, two of the most destructive blazes in LA history.
“President Trump’s January Executive Order was a bold move to break through the non-federal logjams that had held up lives, homes, and entire neighborhoods from being rebuilt. Since that EO, we’ve helped drive nearly 2,000 permit approvals,” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin told The Post.
Los Angeles County has issued 971 permits since executive order was signed – which is a 72% increase – and Los Angeles City has issued 961 permits since then – a 58% increase, the EPA revealed to The Post.
Trump tasked EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin with carrying out the order as it was the Environmental Protection Agency that cleaned up all the hazardous materials left in the wake of the deadly blaze.
“Lee is so competent,” Trump told The Post at the time.
However, Governor Gavin Newsom’s Office doesn’t see the progress as a win for Trump — patting themselves on the back for the recent developments despite months of stalling.
“This is a laughable claim from the Trump administration. The entire premise of Trump’s EO was that local permitting would be bypassed though SBA self-certification, meaning that local permitting would not be necessary,” a Newsom spokesperson told The Post.
“This shows that people are NOT using the process that Trump laid out – but are instead moving forward with the streamlined process made possible by the state and local leaders,” a Newsom spokesperson told The Post.
Wildfires destroyed an estimated 16,000 structures, but Los Angeles city and county officials had only issued 2,600 permits as of when Trump signed the order in January. At that time, which was one year after the disaster, fewer than a dozen homes had been rebuilt, the Associated Press found.
The president, while signing the order in the Oval Office, expressed dismay at the slow pace of rebuilding and told The Post he wanted to “just give the people their permits they want to build.”
In response, Democrats, including LA Mayor Karen Bass, called the president’s order a “political stunt.”
But federal officials hit the ground running once the order was signed.
“Our staff made thousands of individual phone calls directly to wildfire victims, walking them through next steps so their applications could keep moving,” Zeldin said.
John Alle, who works in the real estate business in Los Angeles and lost his home in the fire, told The Post he’s noticed how things are moving faster and everyone from insurance companies to local officials are more responsive since the president issued his order.
Alle noted his own insurance company reached out soon after Trump signed the order and has been more proactive during the reimbursement process.
“They were proactive and very eager to settle and able to come up with something satisfactory and fair,” Alle said, crediting Trump. “His words and actions have done the trick.”
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That responsive rate is important. Many residents struggled to rebuild because their insurance companies were slow to respond and reimburse.
Alle added that Gov. Gavin Newsom, the state insurance commissioner and other state officials are “still missing in action and feel the president’s interfering when they haven’t done anything to help us.”
Newsom, who hosted President Trump and first lady Melania Trump for a tour of the devastation shortly after Trump was sworn in for his second term, was one of the biggest critics of Trump’s order, writing on social media: “An executive order to rebuild Mars would do just as useful.”
The governor, who is weighing a presidential bid in 2028, also has criticized Trump for not giving him the $40 billion in federal aid he’s requested, a number that federal officials said is way too high.
Over $3 billion in federal funds have been allocated.
FEMA has offered $101 million in housing assistance while the Small Business Association has allocated $3.2 billion for housing and business loans.
