Washington — President-elect Donald Trump said he plans to visit the greater Los Angeles area, likely late next week, after has taken the oath of office.
“I’ll probably be by the end of the week,” Trump said NBC News’ Kristen Welker in an interview Saturday.
Firefighters are still battling the flames in the greater Los Angeles area, where forest fires to have killed at least 27 people, destroyed thousands of structures, and charred over 60 square miles. Both the Palisades and Eaton wildfires continue to burn and thousands of people remain under evacuation orders.
Trump told NBC he wanted to visit earlier but “thought it would be better if I went as president,” saying waiting until then is “a little more appropriate.”
It would likely be his first trip away from Washington as president. It is not immediately clear which affected areas the president-elect will visit.
California Governor Gavin Newsom invited Trump to visit him after the fires, though Trump began calling him “Gavin Newscum” on social media. Trump has long been critical of Newsom’s approach to managing forests and woodlands in California.
“Governor Gavin Newscum should immediately go to Northern California and open the water pipeline and let the water flow into their dry, starving, burning state instead of letting it go out into the ocean Pacific.” Trump wrote recently on their Truth Social platform. “It should be done right now, NO MORE EXCUSES FROM THIS INCOMPETENT GOVERNOR. IT’S TOO LATE!”
Newsom has also criticized Trump, suggesting he is pushing misinformation about the cause and handling of the fires.
This won’t be the first time Trump has visited California and worked with Newsom after a fire.
Trump visited Paradise, Calif., in 2018 after flames burned the Northern California community.
Evan Vucci/AP