Trump tours fire-hit California neighborhood
U.S. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump toured a neighborhood that was devastated by the Palisades Fire, northwest of Los Angeles, speaking with residents and firefighters about their experiences.
Trump has sharply criticized California's response to the wildfires, which have caused widespread destruction this month. Three massive blazes still threaten the region.
Trump was on his first trip since reclaiming the presidency. Earlier, in North Carolina to tour areas devastated by September's Hurricane Helene, the president vowed to sign an executive order to overhaul or eliminate FEMA, the main federal agency that responds to natural disasters. He said he preferred that states be given federal money to handle disasters themselves.
"FEMA is a very expensive, in my opinion, mostly failed situation. We had great people. We did some great jobs. But each state should take care of their problem and get money from the federal government. It would be so much better, so much more efficient," Trump said.
Trump accused FEMA of bungling emergency relief efforts in North Carolina.
Trump's antipathy toward FEMA is in line with his dissatisfaction with California's response to the fires. Trump has accused California Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass of "gross incompetence" and Republican colleagues in Congress have threatened to withhold disaster aid.
Trump has also threatened to withhold aid to California and repeated in North Carolina a false claim that Newsom and other officials refused to provide water from the northern part of the state to fight the fires.
Water shortages caused some hydrants to run dry in affluent Pacific Palisades, hindering the early response. When the fires broke out, one of the reservoirs that could have supplied more water to the area was empty for a year. Officials have promised an investigation into why it was dry.
