President Biden cancels trip to Italy due to California wildfires

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden decided to cancel his final overseas trip as president to focus on managing the response to severe fires in California. Instead of traveling to Rome and the Vatican as planned, he opted to stay in Washington.

The trip’s agenda included meetings with Pope Francis, Italian President Sergio Mattarella, and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. This visit was intended to mark the end of Biden’s term as the second Catholic U.S. president and to underline the importance of American alliances before his term ends on January 20.

Biden made the decision to cancel the trip shortly after departing Los Angeles, where he had visited his first great-grandchild who was born just that same day. Concerned about the fires in California, he returned to Washington after being briefed by local fire officials, as the skies in the area were filled with smoke and ashes from the ongoing blazes.

“After returning this evening from Los Angeles, where earlier today he had met with police, fire and emergency personnel fighting the historic fires raging in the area and approved a Major Disaster declaration for California, President Biden made the decision to cancel his upcoming trip to Italy to remain focused on directing the full federal response in the days ahead,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.

The large Palisades fire sparked Tuesday morning as Biden was in Los Angeles, and the high winds that helped fuel its massive spread forced the president to scrub a planned visit to Thermal to announce two new national monuments.

While flying back to Washington on Wednesday, Biden approved a federal major disaster declaration for Los Angeles County, allowing for federal funding to be made available for temporary housing and home repairs as well as low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses. It also provides additional financial assistance to state and local governments to cover the costs of fighting and cleaning up after the fires.