Happy New Year 2025

Tag: California

California Democrat hits Kash Patel for ties to gun rights group

Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., grilled Kash Patel, President Donald Trump’s nominee to head the FBI, over Patel’s pro-gun stances.

Asked by Padilla if Patel believes background checks on firearm purchases are constitutional during the nominee’s confirmation hearing Thursday, Patel responded that he didn’t know “the in-depths of it,” but believed “that’s what the Supreme Court said.”

“Do you think civilian ownership of machine guns is protected by the Second Amendment?” Padilla fired back.

EX-FBI OFFICIAL WHO SHUT DOWN HUNTER BIDEN LINES OF INVESTIGATION VIOLATED HATCH ACT WITH ANTI-TRUMP POSTS

Kash Patel, President Donald Trump’s choice to be director of the FBI, appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee for his confirmation hearing, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

“Whatever the courts rule in regards to the Second Amendment is what is protected by the Second Amendment,” Patel responded.

Padilla explained that his line of questioning was due to an “association” between Patel and the group Gun owners of America, which enthusiastically endorsed Trump’s choice to lead the FBI.

“GOA Applauds Nomination of ‘Fiercely Pro-Gun’ Kash Patel for FBI Director,” the organization said in a press relief following Trump’s announcement to tap Patel.

US Senator from California Alex Padilla speaks on the fourth and last day of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, on August 22, 2024. Vice President Kamala Harris will formally accept the party’s nomination for president today at the DNC which ran from August 19-22 in Chicago. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

KASH PATEL, TRUMP’S PICK FOR FBI DIRECTOR, ANSWERS QUESTIONS ON JAN. 6 , QANON, AND MORE

Padilla expressed concern over the enthusiastic endorsement, arguing that the organization has taken “extreme positions” on guns.

“Gun Owners of America has taken extreme positions, including the position that all background checks are unconstitutional and that civilian ownership of machine guns is protected under the Second Amendment,” Padilla said.

Padilla then argued that Patel would be responsible for overseeing some of the country’s most critical gun regulations at the FBI, expressing concern that Trump’s nominee was not up to the task.

Former Chief of Staff to the U.S. Secretary of Defense Kash Patel speaks during a campaign rally for U.S. Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump at Findlay Toyota Center on October 13, 2024 in Prescott Valley, Arizona. With 22 days to go until election day, former President Donald Trump is campaigning in the battleground state Arizona. (Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)

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“Let me remind you that as FBI director you will oversee critical responsibilities related to firearm regulation, you’re administering the national instant criminal background check system. Yes, it’s constitutional, it’s in place, for a reason! You would also regulate the distribution of machine guns to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands. Policies and programs in place for a reason,” Padilla said.

“Given your hesitancy, given your answers, I am concerned about your ability to do the job when it’s not in alignment with views like Gun Owners of America.”

Michael Lee is a writer for Fox News. Prior to joining Fox News, Michael worked for the Washington Examiner, Bongino.com, and Unbiased America. He has covered politics for more than eight years.

January 30, 2025
Trump press secretary attacked by California House Democrat: ‘Fake Christian’

A first-term House Democrat is attacking White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on X after she sought to clarify a White House memo rescinding an earlier policy statement on President Donald Trump’s federal funding order.

“Karoline Leavitt is a Fake Christian, like so many in this Golden Calf administration,” Rep. Dave Min, D-Calif., wrote on Wednesday.

It comes after the White House rescinded an Office of Management and Budget (OMB) memo that ordered the freeze of most federal grants and assistance, which was blocked by a federal judge on Tuesday.

TRUMP DHS REPEALS KEY MAYORKAS MEMO LIMITING ICE AGENTS

Freshman House Democrat Rep. Dave Min criticized Trump press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Wednesday. (Getty Images)

Leavitt posted on X that it was just the memo that had been rescinded, and that Trump’s executive orders targeting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and other progressive spending priorities remained intact.

“This is NOT a rescission of the federal funding freeze. It is simply a rescission of the OMB memo. Why? To end any confusion created by the court’s injunction,” she wrote.

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT DOGE AND ITS QUEST TO SLASH GOVERNMENT WASTE, SPENDING

President Donald Trump’s OMB issued a memo pausing most federal funding. (Donald Trump 2024 campaign/File)

“The President’s EOs on federal funding remain in full force and effect, and will be rigorously implemented.”

Min’s comments were directed at Leavitt’s aforementioned post.

Earlier, the California Democrat criticized Leavitt’s comments at a White House press briefing in which she said, “DOGE and OMB also found that there was about to be 50 million taxpayer dollars that went out the door to fund condoms in Gaza. That is a preposterous waste of taxpayer dollars.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks at the daily briefing on Tuesday. (AP)

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Min mocked the senior Trump aide, claiming she was making those remarks “while wearing a giant cross to let everyone know how pious and moral she is, even as she is so comfortable stating a bald-faced lie to hundreds of millions of people.”

He told Fox News Digital in request for further comment, “As a person of faith, I find it appealing that this administration uses religion to advance an agenda while lying through their teeth about what they are doing, allowing children to go to bed hungry, depriving veterans of their earned healthcare, and slashing funding for the police and first responders.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Leavitt for comment.

Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.

Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to [email protected]

January 29, 2025
California man proposes state secede from the US

A California man is leading the charge to have the state split from the United States.

The office of California Secretary of State Shirley Weber said Marcus Evans can begin collecting signatures to put the questions to voters.

“Should California leave the United States and become a free and independent country?” the question reads.

LA FIRES: ‘MILLION DOLLAR LISTING’ STARS RAISE ALARM ABOUT ILLEGAL PRICE GOUGING

Hollywood sign in California. (Joshua Comins/Fox News)

To qualify for the November 2028 ballot, Evans must collect the signatures of at least 546,651 registered voters by July 22. If approved, the measure wouldn’t trigger independence for the Golden State.

Instead it would declare a “vote of no confidence in the United States of America” and an “expression of the will of the people of California” to become an independent country without changing the state’s government or its relationship with the U.S.

In addition, a 20-member commission would be established to study whether California could govern itself and its viability as a nation.

RICKI LAKE SAYS REBUILDING AFTER LA FIRES DESTROYED HER HOME IS ‘EXHAUSTING AND PARALYZING’

An aerial view of the California State Capitol on February 01, 2023, in Sacramento, California. (Justin Sullivan/Justin Sullivan)

Secession from the U.S. would require a constitutional amendment, which would need approval from two-thirds of states.

Despite the proposal, the California constitution notes that the state “is an inseparable part of the United States of America.”

“The U.S. Constitution includes neither a mechanism for a state to secede from the United States nor a provision for a single state to be an autonomous nation within the United States,” the California Legislative Analyst’s Office states.

The Golden Gate Bridge is awash in warm light from the setting sun in San Francisco, California, February 13, 2015. (Photo by John Gress/Corbis via Getty Images)

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Fox News Digital has reached out to Evans.

January 29, 2025
California ‘lawfare’ case against pro-lifers first brought by Kamala Harris ends after nine years

California authorities on Tuesday announced an end to their nearly decade-long criminal prosecution of an independent journalist and an anti-abortion activist who secretly recorded videos showing Planned Parenthood allegedly selling aborted fetal tissue.

The pair at the center of the legal fight, founder of the Center for Medical Progress David Daleiden and journalist Sandra Merritt, agreed to a “no-contest” plea deal on a single charge, resulting in no fines or prison sentences. California prosecutors had at one point pursued up to 15 felony counts in a case Daleiden said was politically motivated “lawfare.”

“My case is the first and only one that was ever criminally charged by the state attorney general’s office, and it was because of Planned Parenthood’s demand to cover up the information that was on those video recordings about how they’re using partial birth abortions to sell late-term aborted baby body parts at their taxpayer funded mega clinics across the state of California and across the country,” Daleiden told Fox News Digital in an interview on Tuesday.

“I’m no expert, but I definitely think that the election has something to do with it,” Daleiden said when asked why he thinks prosecutors dropped the charges all these years later. Daleiden dubbed the litigation “lawfare,” in a post on X.

TRANS INMATE’S LAWSUIT CHALLENGES TRUMP ‘TWO-SEXES’ ORDER CUTTING OFF TAX MONEY FOR GENDER THERAPY

Founder of Center for Medical Progress, David Daleiden, and pro-life journalist Sandra Merritt had their California case dropped with no prison time or fines on Monday. The pair secretly recorded videos showing Planned Parenthood allegedly selling aborted fetal tissue. (Getty Images)

In a statement provided to Fox News Digital, California State Attorney General Rob Bonta said, “While the Trump Administration is issuing pardons to individuals convicted of harming reproductive health clinics and providers, my office is securing criminal convictions to ensure that Californians can exercise their constitutional rights to reproductive healthcare.”

“We will not hesitate to continue taking action against those who threaten access to abortion care — whether by recording confidential conversations or other means,” he said.

Daleiden and Merritt’s plea agreement requires no contact with victims, no public identification of them, and compliance with all laws, including restrictions on recording, according to Bonta’s office.

“[T]his entire case was an exercise in grotesquely political weaponization of government.” – pro-life activist David Daleiden

As the then-California Attorney General, Kamala Harris initiated an investigation into Daleiden’s Center for Medical Progress, focusing on the legality of their undercover methods and a narrow application of the state’s eavesdropping law following the release of undercover footage. In 2016, a Texas grand jury indicted Daleiden and Merritt on felony charges related to the creation of fake IDs and offering to purchase fetal tissue. These charges, however, were later dismissed.

In April 2016, under then-AG Harris, California authorities raided Daleiden’s home for evidence, prompting questions about her relationship with Planned Parenthood, which has donated to her campaigns and many other Democrats.

Harris was elected to the U.S. Senate months later and resigned as state attorney general in January 2017.

In 2017, California prosecutors under Harris’ successor Xavier Becerra charged Daleiden and Merritt with 15 felony counts, including criminal conspiracy and invasion of privacy, for recording individuals without consent.

“They pursued this case viciously for nine years, because it was such a priority for national Planned Parenthood,” Daleiden said. “But ultimately, it’s a totally weaponized political prosecution. They’re totally wrong on the facts and the law of undercover video reporting in California, all the conversations that me and my team recorded were in public areas where other people could overhear.”

“For the Attorney General’s Office of California to come this far after nine years, and essentially walk away with nothing… just shows this entire case was an exercise in grotesquely political weaponization of government.”

STATE AGS WARN RETAIL GIANT COSTCO FOR DOUBLING DOWN ON ‘DISCRIMINATORY’ DEI

Planned Parenthood is sending a bus to the DNC. (Getty Images)

When the recordings were released, Planned Parenthood maintained it strictly donates the specimens, charging only for transportation and storage costs.

Some of the videos were recorded in 2015 during meetings between Daleiden’s operatives, posing as representatives of a fetal tissue procurement company, and various Planned Parenthood staff members. The hours-long footage published online showed conversations in which Planned Parenthood providers and executives appeared to negotiate prices for fetal tissue and discuss under-the-table procedures for obtaining it.

Merritt was involved in the undercover operation as one of the key figures behind the release of the footage alongside Daleiden.

“Sandra Merritt did nothing wrong,” Merritt’s attorneys at the Christian law firm Liberty Counsel said in a statement Monday. “She did the right thing by exposing the depravity of the abortion industry.”

According to a 2015 Guardian report, Planned Parenthood stopped accepting reimbursements for its fetal tissue donation program following state and federal probes after Daleiden’s undercover videos.

TRUMP’S ‘TWO SEXES’ EXECUTIVE ORDER COMES ON HEELS OF SCOTUS ACCEPTING ANOTHER CHALLENGE TO LGBT AGENDA

North Dakota’s previous restrictions on abortion were challenged in court by what was formerly state’s only abortion clinic. Pictured is an abortion clinic in Idaho. (Darin Oswald/Idaho Statesman/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday, “to end the use of federal taxpayer dollars to fund or promote elective abortion,” reinforcing the Hyde Amendment. As a result, organizations like Planned Parenthood, which provide abortion services, may face funding challenges depending on how the organization receives its funds for elective abortions.

According to a blog post by the organization’s political action fund, “60% of Planned Parenthood patients rely on public health programs like Medicaid and Title X.”

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Fox News Digital has reached out to Harris and Planned Parenthood for comment.

Jamie Joseph is a writer who covers politics. She leads Fox News Digital coverage of the Senate.

January 28, 2025
Trump claims military entered California to release water flow, but state says that did not happen

President Donald Trump claimed Monday night that the military entered California and “turned on the water,” but state water officials contend that the president’s claim is false.

“The United States Military just entered the Great State of California and, under Emergency Powers, TURNED ON THE WATER flowing abundantly from the Pacific Northwest, and beyond,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“The days of putting a Fake Environmental argument, over the PEOPLE, are OVER. Enjoy the water, California!!!” he added.

But the California Department of Water Resources responded that the military never entered the Golden State and that the state continues to have plenty of water resources.

CALI REP. CHU SAYS ‘WILDFIRES HAVE NO POLITICAL AFFILIATIONS’ AFTER TRUMP FLOATED CONDITIONS FOR FEDERAL AID

President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump tour a fire-affected area in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, on January 24, 2025. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

“The military did not enter California,” the department said on X. “The federal government restarted federal water pumps after they were offline for maintenance for three days. State water supplies in Southern California remain plentiful.”

State Senate Pro Tem Mike McGuire, a Democrat, also pushed back against Trump’s post.

“First off, shocker, water from the Pacific Northwest doesn’t flow to the Central Valley,” McGuire said on X. “Second, federal water pumps were down for repair and are now back on. Third, rest assured, the military has not invaded the delta. Facts are hard.”

TRUMP MEETS WITH CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS, FIRE AND LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS TO SEE LA WILDFIRE DAMAGE FIRST HAND

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump walk with California Gov. Gavin Newsom after arriving on Air Force One at Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (Mark Schiefelbein/AP)

This comes after Trump issued an executive order directing several federal agencies, including the Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security, to determine how to deliver more water to Southern California and the Central Valley, as the state responds to wildfires that swept through the Los Angeles area this month.

Trump had said on Friday that two conditions must be met in California before the federal government offers disaster relief. He said he wants lawmakers to approve voter identification legislation and that water deliveries need to be increased from Northern California to drier areas further south.

“I want to see two things in Los Angeles. Voter ID, so that the people have a chance to vote, and I want to see the water be released and come down into Los Angeles and throughout the state,” Trump told reporters in North Carolina as he was touring hurricane recovery efforts in that state. “Those are the two things. After that, I will be the greatest president that California has ever seen.”

President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump meet residents as they tour a fire-affected area in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, on January 24, 2025. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

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Trump visited Los Angeles later on Friday to view damage from the wildfires and meet with local officials and residents.

Republicans in Congress have suggested tying wildfire aid to a debt ceiling increase or changes to California’s fire-mitigation policies.

January 28, 2025
Trumps claims military entered California to release water flow, but state says that did not happen

President Donald Trump claimed Monday night that the military entered California and “turned on the water,” but state water officials contend that the president’s claim is false.

“The United States Military just entered the Great State of California and, under Emergency Powers, TURNED ON THE WATER flowing abundantly from the Pacific Northwest, and beyond,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“The days of putting a Fake Environmental argument, over the PEOPLE, are OVER. Enjoy the water, California!!!” he added.

But the California Department of Water Resources responded that the military never entered the Golden State and that the state continues to have plenty of water resources.

CALI REP. CHU SAYS ‘WILDFIRES HAVE NO POLITICAL AFFILIATIONS’ AFTER TRUMP FLOATED CONDITIONS FOR FEDERAL AID

President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump tour a fire-affected area in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, on January 24, 2025. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

“The military did not enter California,” the department said on X. “The federal government restarted federal water pumps after they were offline for maintenance for three days. State water supplies in Southern California remain plentiful.”

State Senate Pro Tem Mike McGuire, a Democrat, also pushed back against Trump’s post.

“First off, shocker, water from the Pacific Northwest doesn’t flow to the Central Valley,” McGuire said on X. “Second, federal water pumps were down for repair and are now back on. Third, rest assured, the military has not invaded the delta. Facts are hard.”

TRUMP MEETS WITH CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS, FIRE AND LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS TO SEE LA WILDFIRE DAMAGE FIRST HAND

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump walk with California Gov. Gavin Newsom after arriving on Air Force One at Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (Mark Schiefelbein/AP)

This comes after Trump issued an executive order directing several federal agencies, including the Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security, to determine how to deliver more water to Southern California and the Central Valley, as the state responds to wildfires that swept through the Los Angeles area this month.

Trump had said on Friday that two conditions must be met in California before the federal government offers disaster relief. He said he wants lawmakers to approve voter identification legislation and that water deliveries need to be increased from Northern California to drier areas further south.

“I want to see two things in Los Angeles. Voter ID, so that the people have a chance to vote, and I want to see the water be released and come down into Los Angeles and throughout the state,” Trump told reporters in North Carolina as he was touring hurricane recovery efforts in that state. “Those are the two things. After that, I will be the greatest president that California has ever seen.”

President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump meet residents as they tour a fire-affected area in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, on January 24, 2025. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

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Trump visited Los Angeles later on Friday to view damage from the wildfires and meet with local officials and residents.

Republicans in Congress have suggested tying wildfire aid to a debt ceiling increase or changes to California’s fire-mitigation policies.

January 28, 2025
Johnson considering Trump’s call to condition California wildfire aid on voter ID crackdown

DORAL, Fla. — Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., suggested Monday that he is open to conditioning California wildfire aid on forcing the state to embrace voter ID laws.

President Donald Trump floated the idea on Friday, the same day he visited flame-ravaged Los Angeles.

Johnson said he had not spoken with Trump personally about the issue yet but criticized the progressive stronghold’s handling of elections and other policy decisions that led to the fire.

TRUMP’S FEDERAL DEI PURGE PUTS HUNDREDS ON LEAVE, NIXES $420M IN CONTRACTS

Speaker Mike Johnson suggested he could support President Trump’s call to condition wildfire aid to California (Getty Images/Shutterstock)

“Listen, there are a lot of issues going on in California, and we have been lamenting the lack of voter security there for some time,” Johnson said.

He then referenced three seats in California that Republicans lost in close House races this past November – though there have been no reports or instances of fraud detected in any of those match-ups.

“We saw three of our seats, frankly, slip away from us in the weeks that it took to continue counting ballots in California, when seemingly every other state in the nation, in America, can get it done. It’s inexcusable,” Johnson said. “[California Gov. Gavin Newsom] provides, I think, such a lack of leadership there in so many ways, and it was highlighted by the disaster with the fires.”

Newsom and Trump face off on the tarmac in Los Angeles. (Pool)

Democrats, including Newsom, have widely panned Republican suggestions of conditioning wildfire aid to California. Several have noted in their attacks that Johnson’s home state of Louisiana has been a recipient of federal aid through multiple hurricane seasons.

But Johnson said the discussions were “a common sense notion that is supported by the vast majority of the American people who do not want to subsidize crazy California leftist policies.”

“Now, what the terms are and the details of that, we will be working it out. But entwined in all of that is the concern about election security in California. And voter ID is a matter that, again, comports with common sense, that most American people see the value in,” Johnson said.

‘NO BETTER DEALMAKER’: TRUMP REPORTEDLY CONSIDERING EXECUTIVE ORDER TO ‘SAVE’ TIKTOK

People watch the smoke and flames from the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood on Jan. 7, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Tiffany Rose/Getty Images)

Johnson and other House GOP leaders held a press conference to kick off their annual issues conference at Trump’s golf course near Miami, Florida.

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They will be in South Florida through Wednesday discussing how to carry out Trump’s vision for an active first 100 days of his new administration.

Johnson also suggested that conditioning wildfire aid to California will be a topic of discussion when Trump meets with House Republicans during their retreat on Monday evening.

Newsom told reporters when asked about Trump’s suggestion, “I have all the confidence in the world we’ll work that out.”

Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.

Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to [email protected]

January 27, 2025
Trump meets with California residents, fire, law enforcement officials to see LA wildfire damage

President Donald Trump declared a national emergency after touring the devastation of the Los Angeles fires with residents who were personally impacted by the disastrous event.

Trump traveled to Southern California on Friday to survey the damage from the recent wildfires that destroyed over 10,000 structures in the Los Angeles area and tragically took the lives of nearly 30 people.

Trump took an aerial tour of the area before his landing, with images showing the once ritzy neighborhood in ashes.

The president and first lady Melania Trump then experienced the damage up close, meeting with local law enforcement and members of the community for a tour of the destroyed Pacific Palisades neighborhoods.

‘FEMA IS NOT GOOD’: TRUMP ANNOUNCES AGENCY OVERHAUL DURING VISIT TO NORTH CAROLINA

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump tour a fire-damaged area in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles on Friday. (Mandel Ngan)

“Not even believable,” Trump told reporters on site.

Trump sat down for a roundtable with LA Mayor Karen Bass and other state officials. When the president entered the room, individuals were heard chanting “USA, USA, USA!” Bass greeted the president and said that his presence was welcomed.

“This is an honor to be with you,” during the meeting, saying that homeowners told him that they want to rebuild their homes in the area.

Trump said he would sign an executive order to open up the water valves in the area.

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump meet residents as they tour a fire-affected area in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles. (Mandel Ngan)

“I don’t think you can realize how rough, how devastating it is until you see it,” Trump said of the wildfire damage. “The federal government is standing behind you, 100%.”

Trump said that he is going to waive federal permits for rebuilding in the area. “I’m gonna be the president to help you fix it,” he said. “We’re going to waive all federal permits… Because a federal permit can take 10 years… we don’t want to take 10 days.”

LOS ANGELES AGENCY REVEALS ESTIMATED ECONOMIC IMPACT OF DEADLY WILDFIRES AS INFERNOS STILL RAGE

After the fires broke out, Trump blamed Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democratic city policies for the damage, citing their forest and water management policies.

Gov. Gavin Newsom and President Donald Trump shake hands on a tarmac at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday. (Pool)

Newsom was waiting for Trump on the tarmac when he exited Air Force One and was seen shaking hands with the president in their first face-to-face encounter since the inauguration.

“Thank you first for being here. It means a great deal to all of us,” Newsom told Trump after they met on the tarmac of LAX in Los Angeles just after 3 p.m. local time. “We’re going to need your support. We’re going to need your help.”

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Speaking about his meeting with Newsom, Trump said that “we had a good talk, a very positive talk.”

Trump traveled to North Carolina to tour the hurricane damage, before heading to California for his first visit to the state since becoming president.

Aubrie Spady is a Writer for Fox News Digital.

January 25, 2025
Gavin Newsom thanks Trump for coming to California to tour fire damage

California Gov. Gavin Newsom thanked President Donald Trump on Friday for coming to Southern California to tour the devastation left by the fires this month.

“Thank you first for being here. It makes a great deal to all of us,” Newsom told Trump after they met on the tarmac of LAX in Los Angeles just after 3 p.m. local time. “We’re going to need your support, we’re going to need your help.”

He added that Trump was with California “during COVID, I don’t forget that.”

President Donald Trump talks with California Gov. Gavin Newsom after arriving on Air Force One at Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (Mark Schiefelbein/AP)

Trump said he believed he appreciated Newsom coming out to greet him after he arrived, adding “I think you’re going to see some very good progress” on the fire recovery.

“We want to get the problem fixed,” Trump said. “It’s like you got hit by a bomb.”

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Making reference to some of the blame he had placed on Newsom and other California Democrats for not being properly prepared to handle the fires, he added, “We’ll get it permanently fixed so it can’t happen again.”

January 24, 2025
Newsom-Trump war of words still simmering as president arrives in California to survey wildfires

When President Donald Trump lands in California on Friday to survey the devastating wildfires that have ravaged metropolitan Los Angeles this month, the state’s Democratic governor will be among the officials greeting him.

But Gov. Gavin Newsom is showing up uninvited.

“I look forward to being there on the tarmac to thank the president, welcome him, and we’re making sure that all the resources he needs for a successful briefing are provided to him,” Newsom told reporters on the eve of Trump’s stop in Los Angeles.

Since the fires, which have killed nearly 30 people and forced tens of thousands to flee their homes, broke out earlier this month, Trump has repeatedly criticized Newsom’s handling of the immense crisis. He has accused the governor of mismanaging forestry and water policy, and pointing to intense backlash over a perceived lack of preparation, he has called on Newsom to step down.

UNINVITED NEWSOM SAYS HE’LL BE ON TARMAC TO GREET AND BRIEF TRUMP

People watch the smoke and flames from the wildfires in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood on Jan. 7, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Tiffany Rose/Getty Images)

“Gavin Newscum should resign. This is all his fault!!!” Trump charged in a social media post on Jan. 8, as he repeated a derogatory name he often labels the governor.

And in his first Oval Office interview since returning to power in the White House, Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity this week, “This fire was just raging, and then it would catch to another area, another area, another area.”

“It took a week and a half — and I’ve never seen anything like it. We look so weak,” Trump argued in the appearance on Fox News’ “Hannity,” as he pointed towards his repeated claim that a main reason the blazes raged was because firefighters didn’t have access to water.

TRUMP PLEDGES FEMA OVERHAUL DURING STOP IN HURRICANE RAVAGED WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA

Trump and some top Republicans in Congress have pushed toward placing conditions on continuing the massive federal wildfire aid to California in order to force policy changes.

Newsom on Thursday signed a $2.5 billion state relief package. But California will need much more help from the federal government.

California Governor Gavin Newsom (right) tours the downtown business district of Pacific Palisades as the Palisades Fire continues to burn on January 8, 2025, in Los Angeles, California. (Eric Thayer)

“I don’t think we should give California anything until they let water flow down from the north to the south,” Trump said in his Fox News interview.

Newsom, the governor of the nation’s most populous state, one of the Democratic Party’s leaders in the resistance against the returning president, and a potential White House contender in 2028, has pushed back, as the two larger-than-life politicians trade fire.

The governor has noted that reservoirs in the southern part of California were full when the fires first sparked, and has argued that no amount of water could tackle fires fueled by winds of up to 100 miles per hour.

Newsom has also charged Trump has spread “hurricane-force winds of mis-and-disinformation.

U.S. President Donald Trump boards Air Force One as he departs for North Carolina at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, January 24, 2025. (Leah Millis/Reuters)

And in a letter to Congress last week, Newsom emphasized that “our long national history of responding to natural disasters, no matter where they occur, has always been Americans helping Americans, full stop.”

The wildfires are far from the first time Newsom and Trump have taken aim at each other. Their animosity dates back to before Trump was elected president the first time in 2016, when Newsom was California’s lieutenant governor.

The verbal fireworks continued over the past two years, as Newsom served as a top surrogate on the campaign trail for former President Biden and then former Vice President Kamala Harris, who replaced Biden as the Democrats’ 2024 standard-bearer last summer.

Following Trump’s convincing election victory over Harris in November, Newsom moved to Trump-proof his heavily blue state.

“He is using the term ‘Trump-Proof’ as a way of stopping all of the GREAT things that can be done to ‘Make California Great Again,’ but I just overwhelmingly won the Election,” Trump responded.

While pushing back against Trump’s attacks amid the wildfires, Newsom also knows he needs to work with the president.

President Donald Trump (center) looks on with California Gov. Jerry Brown (right) and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, as they view damage from wildfires in Paradise, California on November 17, 2018. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

Newsom, who two weeks ago invited Trump to come to California to survey the damage, said in a statement on Monday following the inauguration ceremony, “I look forward to President Trump’s visit to Los Angeles and his mobilization of the full weight of the federal government to help our fellow Americans recover and rebuild.”

He emphasized “finding common ground and striving toward shared goals” with the Trump administration.

“In the face of one of the worst natural disasters in America’s history, this moment underscores the critical need for partnership, a shared commitment to facts, and mutual respect – values that enable civil discourse, effective governance, and meaningful action,” the governor said.

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Veteran California-based political scientist Jack Pitney at Claremont McKenna College noted that “this is a very difficult balance” for Newsom.

“As a governor of California, he needs to work with the president to get federal aid for the state. As a national political figure, he feels pressure to attack Trump. It’s hard to do both of those at the same time,” Pitney told Fox News.

Paul Steinhauser is a politics reporter based in New Hampshire.

January 24, 2025