It’s unclear whether the Republican president will meet with Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom during this visit.
President Donald Trump is expected to travel to Southern California on Friday to see firsthand the devastation caused by wildfires that have rippled through Los Angeles County over the past two-and-a-half weeks.
For update, see: Trump heads to LA, poised to see fire damage firsthand
As of Thursday afternoon, details of the president’s visit remain scant. What we do know is that the trip will come during Trump’s first week back in office.
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And it appears to be a short trip. Trump will first stop in Asheville, North Carolina, which is still rebounding from the devastation brought by Hurricane Helene in the fall. The president is then expected to head to Southern California before he is slated to travel to Las Vegas later Friday.
Officials in North Carolina estimated that the hurricane left behind at least $53 billion in damages and recovery needs. North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper called it the “deadliest and most damaging storm ever” to hit the state.
While campaigning, Trump criticized then-President Joe Biden and his administration’s response to that disaster.
“They’ve let those people suffer unjustly,” Trump once said about the residents of North Carolina. And during his inauguration speech on Monday, Trump referred to the “wonderful people of North Carolina, who’ve been treated so badly.”
It’s unclear whether the Republican president will meet with Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom upon arriving in California.
“I don’t know. I haven’t even thought about it,” Trump said about a potential meeting during an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity on Wednesday.
Newsom said Thursday afternoon that he still had not “had contact with the White House” but planned to be on the tarmac to greet the president when he arrives.
“I’m grateful that he appears to be coming out,” Newsom said.
It’s no secret that Trump and Newsom have frequently feuded. But during the early days of the Southern California wildfires, Newsom invited Trump to visit Los Angeles to witness the devastation and urged the president not to politicize the catastrophe.
Have to love it.
Slick screws up the State with radical Socialist governance and now has to go to where Trump lands to get a head shot photo op.
Must have been galling to say the least.
Viewing the massive failure of Democrats in the State for the past decade one wonders why any sane person would vote Democrat.