Trump’s Post-Inauguration Plans: A Possible Journey to L.A.

President-elect Donald Trump stated he will “likely” travel to Los Angeles next week to assess the consequences of the catastrophic wildfires.

Trump mentioned to NBC News‘ Kristen Welker on Saturday that he intends to visit following his inauguration on Monday, stating, “I will be, probably, at the end of the week.”

“I was planning to go, actually yesterday,” he continued, “but I thought it would be more suitable if I went as president. It’s a bit more appropriate, I suspect.”

Trump’s visit would occur weeks after fires first ignited in the Pacific Palisades on January 7, fueled by powerful Santa Ana winds. Over the next few days, flames erupted across Los Angeles County, including Altadena. While emergency responders have been tirelessly working to control the fires, more than 12,000 homes, buildings, and structures were annihilated in the fires’ wake, displacing numerous residents. At least 25 individuals also lost their lives.

The president-elect has frequently criticized California’s Democratic leadership, especially Gov. Gavin Newsom, regarding their management of wildfires. Although Newsom had previously invited Trump to visit the state to witness the destruction last week, Trump has turned to his social media outlet Truth Social to disparage the governor and L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, making unfounded accusations about the wildfires.

“Governor Gavin Newscum declined to sign the water restoration declaration presented to him that would have permitted millions of gallons of water from excess rainfall and snowmelt from the North to flow daily into various parts of California, including the regions that are currently burning in a nearly apocalyptic manner,” Trump wrote at one point, attributing Newsom a derogatory nickname.

Newsom told NBC News last week that “responding to Donald Trump’s slurs” would take “another month.”

On Saturday, Trump also informed Welker that he has not directly communicated with Newsom since the fires began. When asked if disaster relief for California was among his immediate priorities upon taking office, the president-elect replied, “We’re going to, no, we’re going to [examine] it from numerous perspectives. We’re going to insist on the water being released from the north into the southern parts of California.”

His remarks also follow Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson’s suggestion earlier this week that “there should probably be conditions” attached to further federal assistance to aid L.A. in dealing with the fires.