President Trump to tour Southern California wildfire devastation
LOS ANGELES (KTLA) – President Donald Trump’s first week in office will include a visit to wildfire-ravaged Los Angeles.
“I’m going to go out there on Friday to see it and to get it moving back,” Trump said at a rally ahead of Monday’s inauguration. “We’re going to get some of the best builders in the world. We’ll get it moving back.”
The president’s visit comes as the battle against the Palisades and Eaton wildfires, which destroyed more than 17,000 structures, gives way to the largest recovery and rebuilding effort in California history.
AccuWeather estimates more than $250 billion in damages and economic loss.
At least 27 people died in the fires, which erupted on Jan. 7 when hurricane-strength Santa Ana winds swept across Southern California, which hasn’t seen significant rain in nearly a year.
Questions remain about not only the causes of both fires but also the early response of local fire crews and whether budget cuts to the Los Angeles Fire Department had an impact.
“We are glad to see President-elect Trump accept the Governor’s invitation to come to Los Angeles,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement on Sunday. “The Governor hopes the President-elect meets directly with the Americans affected by these firestorms, sees the devastation firsthand, and joins the Governor and others in thanking the heroic firefighters and first responders who are putting their lives on the line.”
Trump, who frequently spars with Newsom, has blamed him for the fires, claiming, among other things, that his water policies have allowed Southern California’s fire hydrants to run dry.
“Now the ultimate price is being paid,” Trump said. “I will demand that this incompetent governor allow beautiful, clean fresh water to FLOW INTO CALIFORNIA. He is to blame for this.”
Newsom’s office calls the assertion “pure fiction.”
Trump and other conservatives have also repeated the decades-old allegation that poor forest management driven by environmentalists has led to larger, more destructive wildfires.