Washington — President-elect Donald Trump said he plans to visit the greater Los Angeles area, probably at the end of next week, after he’s sworn into office.
“I will be, probably, at the end of the week,” Trump told NBC News’ Kristen Welker in an interview Saturday.
Firefighters are still battling the blazes in the greater Los Angeles area, where wildfires have killed at least 27 people, destroyed thousands of structures, and charred more than 60 square miles. Both the Palisades and Eaton wildfires continue to burn and thousands of people remain under evacuation orders.
Trump told NBC he wanted to visit earlier, but “thought it would be better if I went as president,” saying waiting until then is “a little bit more appropriate.”
It would likely be his first trip away from Washington as president. It’s not immediately clear which affected areas the president-elect will visit.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom invited Trump to visit in the aftermath of the fires, despite Trump taking to calling him “Gavin Newscum” on social media. Trump has long been critical of Newsom’s approach to forest and brush management in California.
“Governor Gavin Newscum should immediately go to Northern California and open up the water main, and let the water flow into his dry, starving, burning State, instead of having it go out into the Pacific Ocean,” Trump wrote recently on his Truth Social platform. “It ought to be done right now, NO MORE EXCUSES FROM THIS INCOMPETENT GOVERNOR. IT’S ALREADY FAR TOO LATE!”
Newsom has also slammed Trump, suggesting he is pushing disinformation about the cause and handling of the fires.
This won’t be the first time Trump will visit California and work with Newsom in the aftermath of a fire.
Trump visited Paradise, California, in 2018, after flames burned that Northern California community to the ground.
Kathryn Watson is a politics reporter for CBS News Digital, based in Washington, D.C.
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