President-elect Donald Trump said Saturday, Jan. 18, that he will “probably” travel to California next week to view the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles County.
“I will be, probably, at the end of the week,” he told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Saturday. “I was going to go, actually yesterday,” the president-elect added, “but I thought it would be better if I went as president. It’s a little bit more appropriate, I suspect.”
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Trump is set to be inaugurated on Monday.
He was invited to visit the wildfire area last week by Gov. Gavin Newsom and County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, amid a war of words between Trump and Newsom.
Trump criticized Newsom in the early hours of the wildfire crisis for policies that he said hampered the firefighting effort.
“Governor Gavin Newscum refused to sign the water restoration declaration put before him that would have allowed millions of gallons of water, from excess rain and snow melt from the North, to flow daily into many parts of California, including the areas that are currently burning in a virtually apocalyptic way,” Trump wrote on the Truth Social platform.
“He wanted to protect an essentially worthless fish called a smelt, by giving it less water (it didn’t work!), but didn’t care about the people of California. Now the ultimate price is being paid. I will demand that this incompetent governor allow beautiful, clean, fresh water to FLOW INTO CALIFORNIA! He is the blame for this. On top of it all, no water for fire hydrants, not firefighting planes. A true disaster!”
The president-elect issued another comment on the fires later.
“The fires are still raging in L.A. The incompetent pols have no idea how to put them out. Thousands of magnificent houses are gone, and many more will soon be lost. There is death all over the place. This is one of the worst catastrophes in the history of our Country. They just can’t put out the fires. What’s wrong with them?” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Newsom blasted Trump’s response on “Meet the Press” last Sunday.
“Responding to Donald Trump’s insults, we would spend another month,” Newsom told NBC News. “I’m very familiar with them. Every elected official that he disagrees with is very familiar with them.”
Newsom said Trump was “somehow connecting the delta smelt to this fire, which is inexcusable because it’s inaccurate. Also, incomprehensible to anyone that understands water policy in the state.”
The governor said he was concerned that his feud with Trump could delay badly needed federal disaster aid.
“… that’s his style,” Newsom said. “And we take it seriously to the extent that in the past it’s taken a little bit more time [to get federal aid].”
Some officials have said they expect the fires to constitute the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history. The county and state have issued emergency proclamations, and President Joe Biden approved a Major Disaster declaration for the state.