- According to a new book, Trump made governors grovel for federal disaster aid after a tropical storm in 2020.
- "Ask me nicely," Trump reportedly told Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont.
- Lamont said he "felt a little bit like Zelenskyy," a reference to Trump's infamous withholding of military aid in 2019.
When Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont of Connecticut asked former President Donald Trump to send much-needed federal disaster aid to his state following a tropical storm in 2020, he said he found himself in a position not unlike that of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
According to an excerpt from "This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America's Future," a forthcoming book from the New York Times reporters Jonathan Martin and Alex Burns, the governor called Trump in August 2020 after Tropical Storm Isaiah left large portions of his state without electricity.
Lamont hoped that the president could help him obtain federal disaster aid via the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), aid that Trump was reportedly willing to provide to states like Texas and Florida — both of which have GOP governors with close ties to Trump — without any question.
But when Lamont's call to the White House was returned by Trump himself, the former president reportedly made the governor grovel for the aid.
"There's something you want me to ask about FEMA?" Trump asked, according to Lamont. "Well, ask me nicely."
Lamont confirmed that account on Monday, telling CT Insider that he "felt a little bit like Zelenskyy," who Trump asked to 'look into' Joe Biden and his son Hunter in exchange for the release of much-needed military aid to the country in 2019.
Trump was later impeached by the House of Representatives, and acquitted by the Senate, for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress in relation to the event.
"Look, it was really important for the state of Connecticut and represented tens of millions of dollars in money we could use to help people get their electricity back up and oriented," Lamont told CT Insider. "So I was happy to ask and really happy to get the response we got."
According to the book excerpt, Republican Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland — a blue-state Republican who's long been critical of Trump — got the same treatment.
"You have to call and ask me nicely," Hogan recalled Trump saying to him.