< The Latest 2025-01-22T02:50:43+0000
The Pasadena Star-News | Tue 01/21 01:18pm PST | Bloomberg
By Josh Wingrove and Hadriana Lowenkron | Bloomberg
President Donald Trump’s first trip since returning to the White House will take him to Asheville, North Carolina and Southern California, communities where he has loudly criticized the federal response to recent natural disasters.
The president will travel to those communities on Friday, according to a person familiar with his plans who shared them on condition of anonymity. Asheville is still recovering from September’s historic flooding caused by Hurricane Helene, while in Southern California devastating wildfires made worse by strong winds have burned entire neighborhoods.
Trump cited the disasters during his inauguration speech Monday as examples of an insufficient federal response to communities in need.
“Our country can no longer deliver basic services in times of emergency, as recently shown by the wonderful people of North Carolina, who been treated so badly, and other states who are still suffering from a hurricane that took place many months ago,” Trump said. “Or more recently, Los Angeles, where we are watching fires still tragically burn from weeks ago without even a token of defense.”
The trip was first reported by the New York Post.
Trump has repeatedly slammed Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom as well as Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass for their handling of the fires. The president has also made inaccurate claims about the effects of California’s water policy on firefighting abilities. One of Trump’s first executive orders was to renew efforts to divert more water from northern California south to the Central Valley and southern California.
Newsom, who is widely seen as a potential presidential candidate in 2028, invited Trump earlier this month to tour the damage and said those displaced from their homes “deserve to see us all working together in their best interests, not politicizing a human tragedy and spreading disinformation from the sidelines.”
On the campaign trail, Trump also bashed then-President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris over the response to the storm in North Carolina. Democrats accused Trump of fanning conspiracy theories about what assistance the federal government was providing residents.
Looming over Trump’s visit Friday are questions about federal funding for disaster recovery. Several congressional Republicans have insisted that money to aid California be tied to requiring substantial policy changes in the state, where Democrats control both the governorship and also the state legislature.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, in an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press, declined to commit to “no-strings attached” disaster aid, as is traditional for emergency funding legislation.
“When the state and local officials make foolish policy decisions that make the disaster exponentially worse, we need to factor that in,” Johnson said. “And I think that’s a common-sense notion.”
Newsom has aggressively pushed back on suggestions aid should be conditioned, reminding Johnson that his home state of Louisiana benefited from generous congressional aid, including after Hurricane Katrina swamped New Orleans in 2005.
“Millions of your supporters are out here and they need your help, empathy, care and whatever compassion you are willing to express,” Newsom said in an X post on Jan. 16.
Trump’s California visit will follow that of Harris, who has a home in Brentwood that was placed under an evacuation order during the first days of the Palisades fire. Though she hasn’t specified future plans, Harris is often mentioned by political observers as a possible candidate for governor of California in 2026.
Harris, in her first public engagement after departing the White House, stopped by a pair of World Central Kitchen food distribution sites in Altadena.
Trump, who defeated Harris in the 2024 presidential election, has feuded with World Central Kitchen founder and chef Jose Andres since he pulled out of a deal to operate a restaurant at Trump’s Washington D.C. hotel.