President Trump's visit to Los Angeles to survey the damage from devastating wildfires has raised questions about whether Governor Gavin Newsom will be present. The two have clashed publicly over the fires, with Trump blaming Newsom for the disaster and Newsom urging for cooperation and collaboration. The potential for a meeting highlights the delicate political balance surrounding natural disasters.
For days since President Donald Trump announced his intent to travel to Los Angeles to survey fire damage, a question has hung over his planned visit: Will Gov. Gavin Newsom be with him? The clash between the two political figures has played out in stark contrast to the devastation wrought by the Palisades and Eaton fires, which have burned through Pacific Palisades, Altadena, and other swaths of the Los Angeles region over the past two weeks.
The president, furious over the early response to the disaster, has repeatedly railed against the governor, calling him “Newscum,” spread misinformation about the causes of the fires, and suggested that California is to blame. While Newsom publicly offered an olive branch to Trump, inviting him to come and survey the damage, the president's tone has remained hostile. Excluding Newsom from his visit would be a stinging rebuke of the governor, who met with Trump when he traveled to California fire zones in 2018 and 2020. On Wednesday, the president indicated to Fox News host Sean Hannity that he might not offer Newsom the same courtesy this time around: “I don’t know. I haven’t even thought about it,” Trump said. On Thursday, Newsom promised to be at the airport today to greet Trump — even if a spokesperson said his office didn’t yet know if the meeting would happen. And Newsom said he expected the president would ultimately “do the right thing” for Los Angeles. “I’m glad he’s coming out here. I’m grateful that the president’s taking the time,” Newsom said. “And I hope he comes with a spirit of cooperation and collaboration. That’s the spirit to which we welcome him.” It’s common for presidents and governors of opposing political parties to do battle on policy differences and then come together when natural disasters strike, said state Sen. Ben Allen, a Santa Monica Democrat whose district has been badly damaged by the Palisades fire. “It would be a delicate balance under any president and certainly, it’s more delicate under this president,” he told CalMatters. “It may appear a little messy, and perhaps it is, but it’s also an integral part of our federal system.” Trump chose not to snub the state’s two Democratic U.S. senators, Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff, whom he dubbed “Shifty Schiff” for investigating him during his first term. “A number of us invited (the president) to come to this state and he reciprocated, inviting us to join him to go to these fire areas,” Schiff said in an MSNBC interview this morning. “Regrettably, Senator Padilla and I have votes today in the Senate so we aren’t able to go. But I’m glad he’s going.” As for Newsom, he’s at a precarious moment in his relationship with the president. While he initially positioned California at the forefront of a renewed resistance after Trump won a second term in November, even calling a special session to address the growing threat of climate change, his recent approach has been more conciliatory. It’s unclear how forthcoming federal assistance will be. Since the outbreak of the Los Angeles fires more than two weeks ago, Trump has depicted them as Newsom’s fault and even demanded that he resign. Fire and climate experts have repeatedly attributed the blazes to off-the-charts heat and drought conditions, exacerbated by climate change
CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES TRUMP NEWSOM FEDERAL SUPPORT CLIMATE CHANGE
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