California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said he will be at the tarmac to greet President Trump when he visits the fire-ravaged Los Angeles area on Friday.
“I look forward to being there on the tarmac to thank the president, welcome him, and we’re making sure that all the resources he needs for a successful briefing are provided to him,” the governor told reporters in California.
Trump on Wednesday told Fox News’s Sean Hannity that he hadn’t thought about whether he would meet one-on-one with Newsom.
The president is set to land in California after a visit earlier Friday to North Carolina, which is still recovering from Hurricane Helene in September.
The president’s trip to the Golden State comes as he and Newsom have traded barbs over wildfire response. Despite the back and forth, Newsom invited Trump to visit the state and urged him not to “politicize human tragedy or spread disinformation from the sidelines.”
The closely watched visit could determine disaster aid for the state and how Trump will work with Democratic governors throughout his four years in office.
Trump also told Fox News, “I don’t think we should give California anything until they let water flow down into their system,” repeating claims that that state could better combat its fires in Los Angeles if it directed water from the northern part of the state to its southern part.
Congress will likely have to consider disaster aid for California ahead of the fast-approaching March 14 government-funding deadline. A number of top Republicans, including Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), have called for conditions to be put on federal aid to the state.