Gavin Newsom is planning to disrupt the visit of Donald Trump to California, where the president will be inspecting the wildfires in Los Angeles during his second term on Friday.
Although not officially invited to join Trump on the tour, Newsom announced on Thursday that he will be present at LAX to welcome the president, whether Trump approves or not.
Newsom stated, ‘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.’
He added that he’ll be rolling out the red carpet, saying: ‘There’s no limit to the resources we’ll provide for that briefing.’
Trump and the California governor have feuded for years, with the president referring to the liberal as ‘Newscum’ and the Democrat working tirelessly to keep Trump from regaining the White House.
Tensions have been high between the two of late, as Trump has slammed how Newsom handled the deadly wildfires.
Evacuation orders were lifted Thursday for tens of thousands as firefighters with air support slowed the spread of a huge wildfire churning through rugged mountains north of Los Angeles. But new blazes have erupted in San Diego County, triggered additional evacuations.
The president is traveling outside Washington for the first time since returning to power on Friday and Los Angeles is on the agenda to tour the damage.
DailyMail.com has reached out to the White House for comment.Â
There had been no formal plans for Trump to meet with Newsom and the president had even told reporters earlier this week that he hadn’t thought much about having to meet the governor.
Gavin Newsom ‘s planning to crash the proceedings when Donald Trump makes his first visit to California during his second term Friday to survey the Los Angeles wildfires
Trump and the California governor have feuded for years, with the president referring to the liberal as ‘Newscum’ and the Democrat having campaigned furiously to keep him from regaining the White House
Newsom, who has not spoken to or met with Trump since he left the White House in 2020, tried to deemphasize their disagreement. Â
‘I have a lot of relationships in the Trump world; a lot of relationships of trust. I communicate with a lot of folks around him, folks that have his ear and influence,’ he said, though he didn’t name anybody.Â
He added that they will likely discuss getting the city on its feet in time for the 2028 Olympics. Â
‘This is a sideshow, a lot of this stuff, but I know it’s the show that’s probably the focus of a little bit too much tomorrow, when all I care about is what we can do together to move past this moment and and start rowing in the same direction to get this region back on its feet.’
Since the fires broke out January 7, Trump has used social media and interviews to accuse the state of sending too much water to the Pacific Ocean instead of south toward Los Angeles and highlighted how some hydrants ran dry in the early hours of the firefight in Pacific Palisades.
In the first hours of his second term, Trump called on federal officials to draft plans to route more water to the crop-rich Central Valley and densely populated cities in the southern part of the state.Â
The president is traveling outside Washington for the first time since returning to power on Friday and Los Angeles is on the agenda to tour the damage
Speaking during their visit to Skyway Villa Mobile Home and RV Park in Paradise, California, in 2018, seen here, Trump and Newsom haven’t spoken since Trump left office in 2020
Two days later he threatened to withhold federal disaster aid unless California leaders change the state´s approach on water.
Southern California is under a red flag warning for critical fire risk through Friday. The area has been facing constant challenges in controlling the fires, as dangerous winds gained strength again Thursday.
The Hughes Fire broke out late Wednesday morning and in less than a day charred nearly 16 square miles of trees and brush near Castaic Lake, a popular recreation area about 40 miles from the devastating Eaton and Palisades fires that are burning for a third week.
Crews made significant progress by late afternoon on the Hughes Fire, with more than one-third of it contained.
Two new blazes were reported Thursday in the San Diego area. Evacuations were ordered but were later lifted after a brush fire erupted in the late afternoon in the wealthy enclave of La Jolla near the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine.Â
Further south, near the U.S.-Mexico border, another blaze was quickly spreading through the Otay Mountain Wilderness, home to the endangered Quino checkerspot butterfly and other unique species.
In Ventura County, a new fire briefly prompted the evacuation of California State University Channel Islands in Camarillo.Â
Water-dropping helicopters made quick progress against the Laguna Fire that erupted in hills above the campus of about 7,000 students. The evacuation order was later downgraded to a warning.
Pictured: A neighborhood in Malibu that was completely destroyed by the Palisades Fire
Rain is forecast for the weekend, potentially ending Southern California’s monthslong dry spell.Â
Winds are also not as strong as they were when the Palisades and Eaton fires broke out, allowing for firefighting aircraft to dump tens of thousands of gallons of fire retardant.
That helped the fight against the Hughes Fire in the Castaic area north of Los Angeles, allowing helicopters to drop water, which kept it from growing, fire spokesperson Jeremy Ruiz said.
‘We had helicopters dropping water until around 3 a.m. That kept it in check,’ he said.
Nearly 54,000 residents in the Castaic area were still under evacuation warnings Thursday, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said. There were no reports of homes or other structures burned.
The Palisades Fire was more than three-quarters contained, and the Eaton Fire was 95% under control Thursday.Â
The two fires have killed at least 28 people and destroyed more than 14,000 structures since they broke out Jan. 7.
Rain was expected to start Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.Â
Insurance experts have warned that you could end up paying for the California wildfires through companies increasing rates to compensate for huge losses (Pictured: Fire crews battle the Kenneth Fire – now 100 percent contained – on January 9)
Officials welcomed the wet weather, but crews also were shoring up hillsides and installing barriers to prevent debris flows as residents returned to the charred Pacific Palisades and Altadena areas.
The California fires have overall caused at least $28 billion in insured damage and probably a little more in uninsured damage, according to Karen Clark and Company, a disaster modeling firm known for accurate post-catastrophe damage assessments.
On the heels of that assessment, California Republicans are pushing back against suggestions by President Donald Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson and others that federal disaster aid for victims of wildfires should come with strings attached.
The state Legislature approved a more than $2.5 billion fire relief package Thursday, in part to help the Los Angeles area recover from the fires.
