President Donald Trump and Gov. Gavin Newsom traded their war of words for a few handshakes Friday afternoon. The two leaders, both vociferous critics of each other, met on the tarmac at LAX around 3 p.m. Friday as Trump touched down to survey the catastrophic damage caused by the spate of wildfires in Southern California this year.<\/p>\n
Newsom, dressed in a casual button-up, was the first to greet a black MAGA hat-wearing Trump as he descended the stairs from his plane. The two clasped hands and exchanged some words \u2014 there were no microphones but Newsom often gesticulated at the president \u2014 before they and first lady Melania Trump walked over to where reporters and cameras waited.<\/p>\n
Trump and Newsom, at least in front of the cameras, were cordial. Trump didn\u2019t refer to the governor as \u201cNewscum\u201d as he is wont to do on social media. And Newsom didn\u2019t call the president an \u201cidiot\u201d as he has done in the past.<\/p>\n
\u201cI appreciate the governor coming out and meeting me,\u201d Trump said, reaching for another handshake. \u201cWe\u2019ll be talking in a little bit. We want to get it fixed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you for being here,\u201d Newsom said. \u201cIt means a great deal to all of us, not just the folks in the Palisades (but also) the folks in Altadena that were devastated. We\u2019re going to need your support; we\u2019re going to need your help.\u201d<\/p>\n
Earlier Friday, when Trump was still in western North Carolina, where he stopped first to survey recovery efforts from last year\u2019s Hurricane Helene, the president suggested tying future federal relief aid for California to a voter ID law and changes to water management.<\/p>\n
\u201cI 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,\u201d Trump said then.<\/p>\n
Trump has long slammed states that don\u2019t have voter ID, a requirement or request during voting that one proves their identity with specific forms of identification. While California does not require such identification, some first-time voters may be asked to show a form of ID when at the polls.<\/p>\n
When asked about it on the tarmac Friday, Newsom said, \u201cI have all the confidence in the world we\u2019ll work that out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump, in his brief remarks, compared the devastation that he had yet to see firsthand to a \u201cbomb going off\u201d and World War II. He promised to work with Newsom to get a more \u201cpermanent fix\u201d in place to prevent future catastrophic destruction.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re looking to get something completed, and the way you get it completed is to work together,\u201d Trump said. \u201cHe\u2019s the governor of this state, and we\u2019re going to get it completed.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a surprising turn of events, President Trump and Gov. Gavin Newsom put aside their differences and promised to work together to provide relief to those affected by the devastating wildfires in Southern California. While the road ahead will be challenging, this initial step towards cooperation is a promising sign for the future.<\/p>\n
Q: What was the purpose of President Trump’s visit to California?<\/strong> Q: What did President Trump and Gov. Newsom agree on?<\/strong> Q: Will California receive federal aid for wildfire relief?<\/strong> President Trump and Gov. Newsom Shake Hands, Promise to Work Together on Wildfire Relief President Trump and Gov. Newsom Trade War of Words for a Few Handshakes President Donald Trump and Gov. Gavin Newsom traded their war of words for a few handshakes Friday afternoon. The two leaders, both vociferous critics of each other, met […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5931,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-5930","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/www.dailynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/LDN-L-FIRE-TRUMP-VISIT-0125-15.jpg?w=1024&h=684&w=1024&resize=1024,684&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5930"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5930"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5930\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5932,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5930\/revisions\/5932"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nA: President Trump visited California to survey the damage caused by the spate of wildfires in Southern California and to meet with Gov. Gavin Newsom to discuss relief efforts.<\/p>\n
\nA: President Trump and Gov. Newsom agreed to work together to provide relief to those affected by the wildfires and to get a “permanent fix” in place to prevent future catastrophic destruction.<\/p>\n
\nA: Yes, President Trump has promised to provide federal aid to California for wildfire relief. However, the specifics of the aid and any conditions attached to it are still unclear.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"