President Donald Trump is ready to comply with his Friday go to to North Carolina, which was hit by Hurricane Helene, with a visit to wildfire-ravaged Southern California. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a longtime Trump nemesis, mentioned he has but to listen to from the president—however plans to greet him on the airport anyway.
“I look forward to being there on the tarmac to thank the president, welcome him, and we’re making sure that all the resources he needs for a successful briefing are provided to him,” Newsom mentioned to reporters on Thursday in Pasadena, the place he signed two payments greenlighting $2.5 billion in restoration efforts. “There’s no limit to the resources we’ll provide for that briefing.”
Wildfires proceed to batter Southern California, with a brand new one threatening San Diego County as of Friday. Fueled by document winds, the firestorm has killed 25 individuals and prompted a staggering $250 billion in estimated damages, making it one of many worst pure disasters in U.S. historical past.
Regardless of the devastation, Trump and the GOP-led Congress have floated the thought of withholding federal help for the Golden State. He has additionally lied and mentioned that California officers mismanaged the water provide after some fireplace hydrants within the Pacific Palisades space ran dry on the top of the fires. Los Angeles firefighters refuted this declare, arguing that hurricane-strength winds battering a drought-ravaged panorama imply “no water system in the world” may’ve stopped the wildfires.
Trump has repeatedly unfold misinformation concerning the causes of the Los Angeles fires and instructed he won’t launch any help except the state modifications its insurance policies or caves on his mass deportation plans. On Friday, he advised reporters he desires obligatory voter identification added to the listing of capitulations he’s demanding from the progressive state—one thing specialists say results in voter suppression.
“People want to have voter identification. You want to have proof of citizenship. Ideally, you have one-day voting. But I just want voter ID as a start, and I want the water to be released,” Trump mentioned on a tarmac in Asheville, North Carolina, repeating nonsensical claims about California’s water provide. “After that, I will be the greatest president that California has ever seen.”
Trump additionally repeatedly mentioned he plans to overtake or eliminate the Federal Emergency Administration Company, which is tasked with responding to pure disasters.
“I think we’re going to recommend that FEMA go away,” Trump mentioned, including that he’d dismantle the company by signing an government order. As Every day Kos reported, that is certain to hit the pink states that voted for him the toughest.
Trump has a historical past of enjoying politics with cities and states devastated by pure disasters if their leaders and voters disagree with him politically. His tried-and-true gambits embody issuing threats by way of social media and spreading misinformation and conspiracies about FEMA restoration efforts, with conservative media following his lead.
As a potential 2028 Democratic presidential contender, Newsom shouldn’t be backing down from his standoff with Trump. Regardless of the continued tensions, he has persistently emphasised that his focus stays on getting help to Californians, and never on petty partisan squabbles.
“My message to the incoming administration, and I’m not here to play any politics, is please don’t play any politics,” Newsom mentioned throughout a Jan. 7 press convention.
It’s exhausting to disregard the sense that for Trump, this journey is extra about posturing than problem-solving, and Newsom’s problem to the brand new administration has set the stage for a possible confrontation. However the Golden State’s dire want has made the political chess sport all of the extra irritating for the hundreds of individuals affected by the fires.
