Phil Murphy wants Trump to help him with Newark's lead water emergency

The city of Newark has no idea whether the water pouring out of the faucets in 14,000 households is safe to drink. 

And now the state is asking for help from President Donald J. Trump, who seems more inclined to give New Jersey the back of his hand rather than extend it to help.

"We need the federal government to do its share and punch its weight,'' Gov. Phil Murphy said in a Newark news conference Wednesday.

Murphy's cry for help from the Donald is pretty ironic, given how much Trump has been Murphy's favorite punching bag in his first two years in office.

Every remedial step the city and the state of New Jersey have taken to screen lead from its water has now been cast in doubt. It suddenly needs a lot of things: comprehensive testing, reliable water filters and, for the foreseeable future, truckloads of bottled water.

And now, suddenly, Murphy expects the thin-skinned president, the great counterpuncher with a long memory, to bail out New Jersey and prevent Newark from becoming a sequel, of sorts, to the fiasco in Flint, Michigan.

"It's public health, public health,'' Murphy said when I asked him why he thought the Trump administration would suddenly rescue Newark. In other words, Trump would set aside past grievances and amid a health crisis and protect the most vulnerable — in this case, children.

But this is a Trump administration that separated immigrant children from their parents and guardians and placed them in Draconian holding cells near the Mexican border. Why would Murphy officials think Trump officials would suddenly jump to the ready based on a collective plea from New Jersey?

Murphy officials also say Trump needs to step up federal investment in helping the state replace its creaky water infrastructure. State officials estimate it would take $3 billion to replace New Jersey's old lead-leaching water system — a price tag that apparently is way too much for the state to swallow, given its own mountain of debt.

Other than flying in to to his getaway golf resort in Bedminster on weekends, Trump has not shown much affection for the Garden State. He has already turned a deaf ear to New Jersey's calls for help with the Gateway project to build a new rail tunnel under the Hudson River, a vital link for the Northeast rail corridor. Trump's tax cut curtailed state and local tax deductions, pinching the pocketbooks of the state's wealthy. He has called for offshore oil drilling. His approval numbers here are in the tank.

Murphy has exploited Trump's poor standing here. He has repeatedly attacked the president, and his attorney general, Gurbir Grewal, has launched a blizzard of lawsuits and legal actions challenging Trump policies ranging from immigration to the environment.

Divide:Murphy defends NJ Transit raises as Weinberg warns better performance should come first

Stile:NJ officials are copying Trump's racism. They're finding out fast it won't work here

Whether Murphy's Trump bashing will come back to haunt him in the state's time of need will be put to the test Thursday. Catherine R. McCabe, the state Department of Environmental Protection commissioner, is scheduled to meet with Andrew Wheeler, federal Environmental Protection Agency commissioner, to talk about the crisis.

The EPA, after all, triggered the latest chapter in Newark's lead-water crisis, in which alarming levels of lead were found in the water of two of three homes, despite being equipped with much-touted filters handed out by the city.

Despite the tiny sample, the EPA told the state to distribute bottled water until the state and city can get a better grip on the extent of the problem. But just how that testing will take place and how long it will take remains unknown.

In the interim, the state is scrambling to stockpile water bottles and distribute them to qualified homeowners. The potential for a long wait already has the state's officials and some of its congressional delegation demanding that Trump officials provide water bottles for the long haul.

Murphy now needs Donald Trump to be his friend. He'll also need a lot of money. And a lot of luck.