President Donald Trump will visit California on Saturday to meet with residents affected by the wildfires that have devastated the state, the White House announced Thursday.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump will visit California on Saturday to meet with residents affected by the wildfires that have devastated the state, the White House announced Thursday.
Further details on the trip were not immediately available.
The president has traveled to California only once since taking office. He visited the state in March, when he surveyed prototypes of his long-promised U. S.-Mexico border wall, addressed military personnel at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar and attended a fundraiser to benefit the Republican National Committee.
News of Trump’s visit comes as two wildfires are raging through California. No wildfire in the state’s history has done more damage than the Camp Fire, which has killed 56 people and destroyed nearly 7,000 structures since it started on Nov. 8. The fire burned down the forest town of Paradise, north of Sacramento, and dozens of people remain missing.
The Woolsey Fire started northwest of Los Angeles the same day and has been moving toward the Pacific Coast. It has killed at least two people and destroyed 483 structures. Among the areas being threatened by the fire is Thousand Oaks, which is still grieving after 12 people were killed in the Nov. 7 mass shooting at Borderline Bar and Grill.
Trump’s response to natural disasters has typically varied depending on the partisan makeup of the state or region affected, and his initial reaction to the wildfires in California – a largely Democratic state – was no exception. He first responded to the fires by blaming them on “gross mismanagement” and threatening to withhold federal payments to California. “There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor,” he tweeted on Saturday.
He later changed course and has tweeted his support for the firefighters and victims of the blazes.
“Thank you to the great Firefighters, First Responders and @FEMA for the incredible job they are doing w/ the California Wildfires. Our Nation appreciates your heroism, courage & genius. God Bless you all!” he said in a Wednesday tweet.
The Washington Post’s Matt Viser, Seung Min Kim and Lindsey Bever contributed to this report.
