Trump to survey Los Angeles fire devastation after criticizing response

Hannah Fry and Ian James, Los Angeles Times on Jan 24, 2025

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

LOS ANGELES — President Trump is expected to visit Los Angeles on Friday to survey the devastation from the firestorms that swept through the county.

The trip is expected to take place on Friday afternoon but few details were provided. He is reportedly also traveling to North Carolina to inspect hurricane damage.

The California firestorms in Pacific Palisades, Malibu and Altadena burned more 16,000 structures and killed at least 28 people. The estimates of costs have topped $250 billion.

Trump comes to Los Angeles after he repeatedly criticized the city’s response to the fires.

Earlier this week, Trump said, “We are watching fires still tragically burn from weeks ago without even a token of defense.

“They’re raging through the houses and communities even affecting some of the wealthiest and most powerful individuals in our country, some of whom are sitting here right now,” he said. “They don’t have a home any longer. That’s interesting.

“We can’t let this happen. Everyone is unable to do anything about it. That’s going to change.”

In an interview with Fox News this week, Trump threatened to tie federal aid for wildfire recovery to whether California accepts changes in water policy. “I don’t think we should give California anything until they let water flow down,” he said.

In a media briefing Tuesday, Trump said his administration will “take care of Los Angeles,” and he criticized the state for what he described as a lack of water flow.

But water managers and experts have said Southern California’s cities are not currently short of water, pointing out that the region’s reservoirs are at record high levels following plentiful deliveries of supplies in 2023 and 2024.

Newsom has said a change in water management in Northern California would not have affected the fire response. The governor’s office said on social media that California “pumps as much water now as it could under prior Trump-era policies,” and that “there is no shortage of water in Southern California.”

Even with ample supplies in reservoirs, local water systems were pushed to their limits in places as the fires rapidly spread, driven by strong winds.

When the L.A. water system lost pressure in parts of Pacific Palisades, some fire hydrants ran dry in high-elevation areas, hindering the firefighting effort. Newsom last week ordered an investigation into the loss of water pressure to hydrants, and the lack of water available from a reservoir in Pacific Palisades that was out of commission for repairs.

Times staff writer Hailey Branson Potts contributed to this report.