Trump, Newsom communicate to media on tarmac in LA
President Donald Trump and First Woman Melania Trump have been greeted by California Governor Gavin Newsom on the tarmac in Los Angeles Friday afternoon.
LOS ANGELES – President Donald Trump hit the street for the primary time since his second inauguration earlier this week, visiting hurricane victims in North Carolina after which heading west to California to tour the devastation left behind by wildfires round Los Angeles.
Trump criticized the federal response – and then-President Biden – after each disasters, drawing rebukes from Democrats who claimed he was unnecessarily politicizing the victims’ struggling. The president additionally steered he’d be open to decreasing FEMA‘s function or eliminating it totally.
“FEMA has actually allow us to down, let the nation down,” Trump mentioned after touchdown in North Carolina. “And I do not know if that is Biden’s fault or whose fault it’s, however we will take over. We will do an excellent job.”
US President Donald Trump, with first woman Melania Trump (L), speaks at a Hurricane Helene restoration briefing in a hangar on the Asheville Regional Airport in Fletcher, North Carolina, on January 24, 2025. (Photograph by MANDEL NGAN/AFP by way of Getty Pictures)
North Carolina: Hurricane Helene
The backstory:
Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida’s Massive Bend area Sept. 26, 2024. Shifting quickly, the storm pushed unusually far inland throughout Georgia and the Southern Appalachians.
Helene introduced unprecedented rainfall to the area, which led to catastrophic flooding and widespread destruction, significantly within the mountains of western North Carolina and japanese Tennessee. The storm additionally brought about in depth energy outages that lasted for weeks and even months.
FOX Climate independently confirmed the dying toll from Helene at 230 throughout seven states, with 102 fatalities confirmed in North Carolina alone.
File; Candidate Donald Trump speaks to the media in Swannanoa, North Carolina, on October 21, 2024, after observing cleanup efforts within the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, which devastated the area. (Photograph by JIM WATSON/AFP by way of Getty Pictures)
Many Helene victims felt forgotten, particularly after Hurricane Milton pummeled Florida and wildfires torched Los Angeles and false rumors in regards to the federal catastrophe response unfold on-line, generally amplified by Trump in the course of the presidential marketing campaign.
What they’re saying:
“The Democrats do not care about North Carolina. What they’ve carried out with FEMA is so dangerous. FEMA is an entire [other] dialogue, as a result of all it does is complicate all the things,” Trump mentioned Wednesday in an interview with Fox Information’ Sean Hannity.
President Trump speaks in Ashville NC on Helene
President trump offered some remarks in North Carolina earlier than touring Helene damages throughout the state.
The opposite facet:
Michael Coen, who served as chief of employees at FEMA in the course of the Biden administration, mentioned Trump was “misinformed” about an company that gives vital assist to states after they’re overwhelmed by disaster.
Southern California: Wildfires
The backstory:
A number of giant wind-whipped wildfires have burned throughout sections of Southern California this month in an unusually early begin to hearth season. Not less than 27 individuals have died and numerous houses, companies and colleges have been destroyed.
A lot of the harm got here from the 2 largest fires – the Palisades Hearth in Pacific Palisades and the Eaton Hearth in Altadena – which officers in comparison with “hearth hurricanes” due to the highly effective Santa Ana winds that made firefighting efforts almost unattainable.
The president and first woman Melania Trump have been greeted at LAX by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
The 2 males shook palms and hugged as soon as on the tarmac.
“We wish to get it fastened, we wish to get the issue fastened and there can be some methods. It is such as you bought hit by a bomb,” Trump mentioned to Newsom and reporters.
Newsom then thanked the president for visiting L.A.
“We will want your help. We will want your assist,” Newsom advised Trump. “You have been there for us throughout COVID. I do not overlook that, and I’ve all of the expectations we’re going to have the ability to work collectively.”
Newsom has praised Trump earlier than when in search of assist from the federal authorities. Within the early months of the coronavirus pandemic, he referred to as Trump “considerate” and “collaborative.”
Trump’s temporary however pleasant interplay with Newsom belied the confrontational stance he signaled towards California earlier within the day.
Trump mentioned Los Angeles residents who misplaced their houses ought to have the ability to get again onto their properties instantly to clear them, including a number of advised him it will likely be months earlier than they will rebuild.
Mayor Karen Bass mentioned residents ought to have the ability to return dwelling throughout the week, however retaining individuals secure from hazardous supplies is a prime precedence. She mentioned the town was easing the method to get permits, however she was repeatedly interrupted by Trump as she tried to elucidate the town’s efforts. He downplayed the issues about toxins, saying: “What’s hazardous waste? We will need to outline that.”
Trump confronts California democrats over wildfires
President Donald Trump and First Woman Melania Trump participated in a roundtable dialogue with native and state leaders on the California wildfires.
Dig deeper:
The response was difficult by a scarcity of water that native officers say was because of the unprecedented and overwhelming want within the face of such huge blazes, exacerbated by the difficult terrain.
Trump has falsely insisted that California’s water insurance policies, particularly fish conservation efforts within the northern a part of the state, contributed to hydrants working dry within the Los Angeles space.
What they’re saying:
“I don’t assume we should always give California something till they let the water run down,” Trump mentioned in an interview with Fox Information Channel’s Sean Hannity on Wednesday.
The opposite facet:
Gov. Gavin Newsom has flatly rejected the president’s claims in regards to the water. “Broadly talking, there isn’t any water scarcity in Southern California proper now, regardless of Trump’s claims that he would open some imaginary spigot,” Newsom’s workplace mentioned earlier this month.
File: California Governor Gavin Newsom, middle, surveys harm in Pacific Palisades in the course of the Palisades Hearth on Wednesday, January 8, 2025, in Pacific Palisades, CA. (Photograph by Jeff Gritchen/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register by way of Getty Pictures)
FEMA and the long run
Massive image view:
The journey is giving President Trump an opportunity to vent in regards to the federal authorities, a well-liked goal of his by the years. After arriving in North Carolina, the president mentioned he wished to look “on the complete idea” of FEMA.
“I will even be signing an government order to start the method of essentially reforming and overhauling FEMA, or possibly eliminating FEMA,” Trump mentioned. “I believe, frankly, FEMA is just not good. I believe when you will have an issue like this, I believe you wish to go, whether or not it is a Democrat or Republican governor, you wish to use your state to repair it and never waste time calling FEMA.
“After which FEMA will get right here and they do not know the world. They’ve by no means been to the world, they usually wish to offer you guidelines that you’ve got by no means heard about. They wish to convey individuals that are not pretty much as good because the individuals you have already got. And FEMA has turned out to be a catastrophe.”
Trump says states ought to deal with emergency response
President Donald Trump mentioned he plans to overtake the Federal Emergency Administration Company (FEMA) as North Carolina continues to be recovering from Hurricane Helene greater than 120 days after the storm struck the state.
RELATED: What’s FEMA? The Federal Emergency Administration Company defined
The president’s journey may additionally immediate some uncomfortable conversations about local weather change, which Trump has performed down and denied. Each Hurricane Helene and the Los Angeles wildfires have been exacerbated by world warming.
In Helene’s case, a examine by worldwide local weather scientists at World Climate Attribution discovered that local weather change boosted the storm’s rainfall by 10%. In California, the state suffered a report dry fall and winter — its conventional moist season — which made the world round Los Angeles extra weak to blazes.
RELATED: This is how a lot stronger local weather change has made hurricanes
What’s subsequent:
Trump plans to carry a Saturday rally in Las Vegas. Advisers mentioned he’ll provide particulars on retaining a marketing campaign promise to exclude ideas from federal taxes.
The Supply: Info from this story got here from President Trump’s press convention, FOX 11 Los Angeles, FOX Climate protection of the disasters, a FOX Information interview with the president, and former FOX Tv Stations reporting. Related Press reporters Will Weissert and Chris Megerian contributed.
