WASHINGTON- President-elect Donald Trump will likely visit the Los Angeles area next week to see wildfire damage, he said Saturday. The trip is expected to be the first outside the nation's capital after its inauguration on Monday.
“I probably will be by the end of the week. I was actually going to go yesterday, but I thought it would be better if I went as president,” Trump told NBC's Kristen Welker in a phone interview. “I suspect that's a little more appropriate.”
Trump's representatives did not respond to requests for comment on Saturday.
At least 27 people have died and more than 12,000 structures have been destroyed during the catastrophic fires in Pacific Palisades, Altadena and surrounding communities. Asked whether he would sign disaster relief for the region after taking office, Trump said his response will be conditioned on demanding policy changes in California.
“We are going to be [looking] approach it from many points of view,” he said. “We are going to demand that water be released from the north into the lower parts of California.”
When asked if he had spoken to Gov. Gavin Newsom, whom Trump called on to resign over his response to the wildfires, the president-elect said no.
Newsom's office invited Trump to see the devastation last week.
The governor's office said the president-elect's transition team acknowledged receipt of the invitation but had not otherwise responded.
“As our invitation states, we hope Trump comes to California to see the devastation, meet with firefighters and survivors, and learn the facts rather than attack from the sidelines,” the governor's office said in a statement Saturday.
Times staff writer Taryn Luna in Sacramento contributed to this report.
