WASHINGTON – President-elect Donald Trump is likely to visit the Los Angeles area next week to inspect wildfire damage, he said Saturday. The trip is expected to be his first outside the capital since taking office on Monday.
“I’ll probably go over the weekend. Actually, I was going to go yesterday, but I thought it would be better to go as president,” Trump said in a phone interview with NBC’s Kristen Welker. “I think that’s a little more appropriate.”
Representatives for Mr. Trump did not respond to requests for comment Saturday.
Massive fires in the Pacific Palisades, Altadena, and surrounding areas have killed at least 27 people and destroyed more than 12,000 structures. Asked if he would sign any local disaster relief relief after taking office, President Trump said it would be conditional on demanding policy changes in California.
“This is what we will become.” [looking] “We’re approaching it from many perspectives,” he said. “We’re going to require water to be released from the north into lower California.”
Asked if he had spoken with Gov. Gavin Newsom, whose resignation Trump has called for over his handling of the wildfires, the president-elect said, “I haven’t.”
Mr. Newsom’s office last week invited Mr. Trump to tour the devastation.
The governor’s office said the president-elect’s transition team acknowledged receipt of the invitation but did not otherwise respond.
In a statement Saturday, the governor’s office said, “As the invitation states, President Trump will come to California to witness the devastation, meet with firefighters and survivors, and get the facts rather than sniping from the sidelines. I look forward to it.”
Times staff writer Taryn Luna in Sacramento contributed to this report.
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