President Donald Trump tweeted Tuesday that aid to states could be tied to a list of items including sanctuary cities and certain taxes.
The president tweeted:
"Well run States should not be bailing out poorly run States, using Coronavirus as the excuse! The elimination of Sanctuary Cities, Payroll Taxes, and perhaps Capital Gains Taxes, must be put on the table. Also lawsuit indemnification & business deductions for restaurants & ent."
Trump made a similar statement last week at an event for small businesses at the White House.
"I don't think you should have sanctuary cities if they get that kind of aid," he said. "If you're going to get aid to the cities and states for the kind of numbers you're talking about, billions of dollars, I don't think you should have sanctuary cities."
Larry Kudlow, the president's top economic adviser, said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union " that Trump had not yet made a decision on the issue.
"Regarding the states, as you know, the president has from time to time spoken about linking that to sanctuary cities," Kudlow said. "I don't think anything's been decided yet."
In a Monday interview with the New York Post, Trump indicated Republicans might not want to bail out blue states that have been indebted for years with coronavirus funds.
"It's not fair to the Republicans because all the states that need help — they're run by Democrats in every case," Trump said. "Florida is doing phenomenal, Texas is doing phenomenal, the Midwest is, you know, fantastic — very little debt."
He added, "You look at Illinois, you look at New York, look at California, you know, those three, there's tremendous debt there, and many others.
"I don’t think the Republicans want to be in a position where they bail out states that are, that have been mismanaged over a long period of time."
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.