US President Donald Trump traveled to North Carolina before continuing on to California on Friday to visit people affected by hurricanes and wildfires.
The visits are Trump’s first trips outside of Washington, DC, since taking office in his second term as president.
Trump has abruptly criticized the governor of California Gavin Newsom and other officials for responding to forest fires that have a generalized devastation this month.
However, as the pair met on the tarmac in California, Trump struck a more positive note, saying: “I appreciate the governor coming out and meeting me,”
He pledged to “get it fixed,” adding: “The way you get it completed is to work together with the governor of the state, and we’re going to get it completed. They’re going to need a lot of federal help.”
Trump was one of those who disseminated many false or deceptive claims about forest fires in Los Angeles, many of whom have viral after Elon Musk republished them on their social media platform.
Among those statements, Newsom refused to supply water from the northern component of the state to combat fires to a kind of extinction in danger of extinction called Lelt.
Newsom has said there is no connection between the fish and the fire and that he has not held water from northern California to fight fires in the south of the state.
In an interview with Fox News on Wednesday, Trump threatened to withhold aid in California and continued to blame state water control policies for getting worse fires.
To see this video, allow javascript and the change to an internet browser that admits the video html5
“I don’t think it’s going to give California anything until they let the water run,” Trump said in an interview with Sean Hannity on Wednesday.
Since they broke out, the fires have killed 28 people and damaged or destroyed nearly 16,000 structures, authorities said. Some rain is predicted for the region over the weekend, but much of Southern California remains under an extreme fire warning.
Trump also accused the Biden administration of not doing enough to western North Carolina with recovery efforts since Hurricane Helene shook the region in September.
Biden’s administration has dismissed the allegations as misinformation.
In contrast to his comments about assisting others affected through fires in California, Trump promised before the election that he would cut red tape and provide federal supplies in rebuilding homes devastated by Hurricane Helene.
But after arriving in North Carolina, Trump questioned the federal government’s role in the disaster emergency.
“I will also indicate a decree to begin the fundamental reform procedure and revision of FEMA, or undo of FEMA,” Trump told reporters, referring to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
He added that he would like to see the states “deal with disasters” and that he would look “for” the total concept “of FEMA.
“Let the state take care of the tornadoes and the hurricanes and all of the other things that happen,” Trump told reporters.
KB / SMS (Reuters, AP, AFP)