President Trump bowed to pressure Friday and restored $187M in antiterrorism funding cuts to New York law enforcement amid widespread outrage from both sides of the political aisle.
The Department of Homeland Security said it would restore the funding to the NYPD, FDNY, Port Authority and other New York state agencies that were earlier slashed.
“We are … announcing full funding of (Homeland Security) grants to effectively counter and combat security threats within the Empire State,” the agency said in a statement that didn’t explain why the cuts were made in the first place.
The flip-flop came after Gov. Hochul and lawmakers from both parties demanded the White House reverse the planned cuts, which came as Trump appears to be targeting Democratic states for political retaliation amid a partisan standoff and a government shutdown.
White House sources said Trump was unaware of the cuts, which would have been the largest federal defunding of New York police in decades, and did not approve them before DHS officials notified state and city law enforcement about them, the New York Times reported. Trump first found out about the cuts when Hochul called him last Sunday.
Rep. Mike Lawler (R-Westchester County), who is locked in a tricky reelection fight, thanked Trump for stepping in, although he didn’t explain the reason for the cuts either.
“Thank you for (reversing) these proposed cuts to ensure law enforcement has the resources they need to protect New York against a terrorist attack,” Lawler tweeted.
In addition to the anti-terror cuts to New York and other Democratic states, the White House slashed infrastructure and other funding to blue states, including $18 billion for the Second Avenue subway and the new Hudson River tunnel to New Jersey, as well as $2 billion for a Chicago subway project.
Those cuts, which Democrats deride as brazen partisan political retaliation, remain in effect.
Hochul revealed the cuts earlier this week and lashed out at the cuts in a harshly worded letter to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.
“Trump’s decision to defund the police is dangerous,” the governor said. “I’m fighting back and demanding answers.”
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch lambasted the Trump administration’s counterterrorism funding cuts as “a betrayal of this city.”
“I want to be very direct about this: If these cuts go through as planned, it will represent a devastating blow to our counterterrorism intelligence programs in New York City,” Tisch said, standing alongside Mayor Adams at police headquarters Wednesday. “New York City … will absolutely be a less safe place six months from now.”
Tisch said the funding being slashed forms “the backbone of the NYPD counterterrorism program.”
The money in question funds NYPD bomb squad technicians, heavily armed patrols of sensitive locations, radiation detection capabilities, intelligence analysis programs, camera systems and training for active shooter incidents, among other initiatives.
Adams also denounced the planned cuts: “These funds are crucial,” he said.
