Trump's Positive Visit to California Amid Wildfires: A Turning Point for State Relations
LOS ANGELES — President Donald Trump began his day of disaster tours with raging threats that sent California officials into a tailspin. He ended it with a hug and a promise to help the Golden State rebuild.
Trump’s tarmac embrace with sometime nemesis Gavin Newsom set the tone for a sober, bipartisan briefing with local, state and federal officials where the president refrained from his sharp-edged digs and instead pledged to help lead in the recovery effort — including waiving federal permitting requirements. There was a brief, but testy exchange with Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass over letting residents back into their homes, but Trump repeatedly held back when conservative officials tried to egg him on over liberal policies they detest largely around the environment.
Embracing Cooperation: A New Chapter for California
“There can be no Golden Age without the Golden State. It’s a great state. It’s a fantastic place,” Trump said at the late afternoon briefing in Los Angeles, where he focused on his own contributions to the city — namely helping secure the World Cup in 2026 and Olympic Games in 2028. “We’re going to have a big celebration soon. We’re going to come back, and we’ll come back as much as you need, and we’re going to turn it around.”
The disaster visits to North Carolina and then California laid bare the unpredictability of Trump, who revels in provoking adversaries from a distance but can be less keen on confronting them in person — especially while they are reeling from a crisis. It was also a revealing glimpse into the eggshell-walking mentality of Democrats, who typically jump at the opportunity to show their anti-Trump bona fides but recognize the fate of the state’s recovery lies in his hands.
Building Bridges Amidst Challenges
There’s little expectation among California officials that Trump’s three hours on the ground will stand as an enduring cease-fire between them and his administration. Already, there are lawsuits over Trump’s order to end birthright citizenship and standoffs over “sanctuary” immigration policy. And there will be more legal battles over deportations, health care and the environment.
Still, it was a striking change in mood from earlier in the day, where Trump floated new threats that could hobble federal disaster aid to the state.
Just hours earlier, Trump warned Newsom and California that he would withhold funding if they don’t institute voter ID requirements at the polls and acquiesce to his demands on water delivery from Northern California. State officials and lawmakers seethed at the mere suggestion of conditioning federal aid, and by the time Trump touched down at Los Angeles International Airport, he was mostly done — at least for the day — with his attempt at dealmaking.
United Front for Recovery
“We’re going to need your help,” said Newsom, who had originally planned to crash Trump’s arrival before his request to meet at the airport was eventually granted by the White House. “You were there for us during Covid. I don’t forget that, and I have all the expectations that we’ll be able to work together to get this speedy recovery,” he told Trump.
They answered questions from reporters, then agreed to return to the conversation later in private.
The comity continued into the briefing where Trump, who had lambasted the state and its Democratic leaders in the immediate aftermath of fires, conceded that he didn’t wrap his mind around the extent of the catastrophe until he witnessed it himself.
“I don’t think you can realize how rough it is, how devastating it is, until you see it. I didn’t realize. I mean, I saw a lot of bad things on television, but the extent of it, the size of it … it is devastation. It’s incredible.”
Trump promised the assemblage of local officials — whom he praised as “great California leaders, both Democrat and Republican” — that “the federal government is standing behind you 100 percent” and professed a “great love” for the state that has often staked an aggressive anti-Trump posture.
Mutual Respect and Collaboration
And the lovefest — or at least polite regard — went both ways.
Bass extended an “official welcome” to the city, noting the significance of Trump’s visit coming so soon after his inauguration.
“I want you to know your presence here is very much appreciated,” she said.
Bass and Newsom have faced fierce criticism since the fires erupted this month, much of it from conservatives including Richard Grenell, the presidential envoy for special missions, who was seated next to Trump and spoke to him off mic. There was notably little talk of Newsom, who was not present, from the panel.
The warm welcome did not eliminate all the friction. The tensest exchange between Trump and Bass centered on how long it would take homeowners to get permits necessary to rebuild. Trump promised to waive all “federal permits” and urged Bass to do the same. Bass, who like Newsom has signed executive orders that seek to expedite rebuilding, promised a swift rebuild, but Trump appeared unconvinced, urging her to let people back to their now-destroyed properties “within 24 hours.”
After Bass explained that time was needed to properly clean up hazardous waste, Trump characterized the reason as another bureaucratic hurdle.
“What’s hazardous waste? We’re going to have to define that, we’re going to go through a whole series of questions on determining what’s a hazard,” Trump said. “You have to allow the people to go on their site and start the process tonight.”
“And we will,” the mayor responded tersely.
But even that touchy exchange ended on a conciliatory note, with Trump telling Bass, “If I can help you at all in that regard, you let me know.”
The president was served plenty of red meat from some of the more conservative participants in the fire briefing, who assailed the state’s insurance policies and failure to properly clear the brush that fuels major wildfires. Joel Pollak, a Breitbart News writer who joined the panel, spoke about his family’s harrowing experience with the fire in the Palisades before urging Trump to appoint a “special master” to oversee the spending by the state and city.
Aside from complaints about California’s Coastal Commission, which regulates development along the state’s coastline, Trump largely did not take the bait.
But he couldn’t get through a California roundtable without bringing up one of his pet causes, California water.
Though it has little to do with the current fires in Los Angeles, he made multiple references to the state’s water system, often inaccurately characterizing the policy changes he said would improve supply.
Around the table was Republican Rep. Vince Fong from Bakersfield, who thanked Trump for his Day One memo ordering a review of federal rules determining how much water gets sent south from Northern California rivers to Central Valley farmers and Southern California’s cities. Trump took the opportunity to recall a trip he took to visit the dry farmland and mention his house in Beverly Hills, where he sometimes gets notices to ration water.
“I don’t know what’s controversial about sending millions and millions of gallons of beautiful fresh water from the Pacific Northwest and further up than even that, into an area that’s bone dry,” said Trump.
“I hope you can all get together and say, ‘I’m so happy with the water that’s going to be flowing down,’” he added.
He reserved his harshest criticism for FEMA, the federal agency charged with managing disasters. The agency had been the target of the president’s ire all day; during his earlier visit to North Carolina he said the agency should be disbanded.
“When we ran it, FEMA was very good, but now FEMA is not good,” he said.
That prompted a rare face-to-face pushback from one of the Democrats in the room, Rep. Brad Sherman, whose district bore the brunt of the Palisades Fire.
“I don’t know how they’re doing in other states,” Sherman said. “They’re doing a good job for us.”
The two also went back and forth over insurance companies fleeing the state — making for one of the few clippable moments of tension that Trump’s team featured on social media.
“You did something, Brad, where every insurance company in the country left California,” Trump said. “That’s why you have no insurance … people that think like you made it so impossible.”
Speaking with reporters after Trump left for Nevada, Sherman gave Trump a mixed review: “The President made a number of comments,” he said. “Some helpful, some not so helpful.”
