President-elect Donald Trump plans to visit fire-stricken Los Angeles as early as next week to survey the destruction and evaluate recovery requirements.
The exact timing of the visit is still uncertain, but Trump’s advisers are tentatively planning a trip to the city late next week, after Monday’s inauguration.
The fires present an early test of Trump’s presidency, as the city’s recovery will demand seamless collaboration among federal, state, and local officials. Having devastated the region for over a week and claimed 24 lives, the fires could rank among the most expensive natural disasters in U.S. history.
Trump has also publicly confronted California’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, accusing him of “gross incompetence” and calling for his resignation. In turn, Newsom has accused Trump of politicizing the fires.
In a wide-ranging interview on Rob Schmitt Tonight, Trump expressed frustration that California’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom ignored his advice on water management and forest maintenance years ago. However, he emphasized that beyond those disagreements, the scale of destruction and loss of life from the fires is “far worse” than what is shown on television.
He then stated, “I just saw some very guarded pictures of it. And it’s far worse than you even see on television, if that’s believable,” Trump told Schmitt. “I believe it’s greater damage than if they got hit by a nuclear weapon. I’ve never seen anything like it. Vast miles and miles of houses just burned to a crisp.”
In an interview on Saturday, Newsom signaled a potential shift in policy, expressing openness to some of Trump’s viewpoints.
“We’ve got to change some of our environmental rules, which we’ve been proactive about,” Newsom stated in an interview with “Pod Save America.” He added, “That’s again what Donald Trump was speaking to specifically.”
President Biden was in Los Angeles last week when the fires began to spread quickly, prompting him to cancel a scheduled speech in the state. He had originally planned a final trip to Rome as president, but ultimately he canceled it to concentrate on addressing the fires.
White House officials reported on Monday that they were maintaining coordination of the federal response to the wildfires in collaboration with state and local authorities.
WH press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stated, “They are making progress but to be clear, the situation remains extremely active especially as winds pick up again.”
