On Friday, President Donald Trump will travel to California to observe the destruction caused by the wildfires that have ravaged the Los Angeles region and are still causing havoc.
Trump will travel to a state with Democratic officials that he has frequently accused of being responsible for ongoing fires, claiming that animal restrictions have made it more difficult to obtain water. This will be his first trip as president since taking office again.
During his preview of the trip, which will include stops in North Carolina and Nevada at either end, Trump assured reporters, “We’re going to take care of Los Angeles.”
While in California, Trump stated this week that he was unsure if he would meet with Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom. Rather, he criticized a response that he claimed made the nation appear weak and defenseless throughout a large portion of his interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Wednesday.
He proposed that California’s efforts to safeguard the Delta smelt, a tiny fish that has been a Trump obsession and even the focus of a Day One memo, may result in the withholding of federal funds. Calling for “putting people over fish,” the decree would completely change the state’s water policy.
Trump has attributed the Los Angeles region’s water scarcity to measures taken to protect the endangered fish, claiming that more water must move from Northern California to Southern California.
In the Fox News interview, he stated, “I don’t think we should give California anything until they let the water run down.”
Trump also stated that he would rather that the states handle their own issues and that he would like to see significant changes made to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Since California sued Trump’s administration numerous times during his first term in office, he and Newsom have been at odds in public. Newsom had earlier invited Trump to assess the devastation caused by the wildfire. As Trump implements a number of strict immigration laws and deregulatory measures that go against the views of California’s Democratic leadership, those initiatives may swiftly intensify.
Following Trump’s victory in the 2024 election, Newsom declared he would once more attack the new government through the judicial system, offering to raise tens of millions of dollars for the battle.
Trump will also travel to North Carolina on Friday. The state was severely damaged by Hurricane Helene months ago. Trump said that the trip was partly political in nature because Democrats had mistreated those individuals.
Trump’s trip to Nevada, a state that hasn’t had a significant natural disaster in recent months, is also motivated by politics. Trump claimed that it was on the schedule for Friday in order to express gratitude to them for the vote following his victory in the swing state in November.