Trump flies in for a look
Three youngsters wearing breathing masks and holding a large US flag welcomed President Trump to California as the state continued to reel from deadly fires Saturday.
The children greeted the commander-in-chief as his motorcade passed through their city of Chico, en route to the town of Paradise, which was all but destroyed by wildfire.
Trump spent his visit consoling Californians suffering from two tragedies.
He walked through the ashes of Paradise in the northern part of the state and later met with families grieving from a mass shooting at a popular college bar outside Los Angeles.
“This has been a tough day when you look at all of the death from one place to the next,” Trump told reporters before flying back to D.C.
The president walked through the ashes of a mobile home park in Paradise, later remarking on the “total devastation.”
Asked during his tour if the gigantic blaze changed his mind about climate change — which he has called a “hoax’’ — the president responded, “No, no.’’
But he also acknowledged that global warming “contributes a little bit’’ to wildfires.
Still, “the big problem we have is management,” he said, though he hastened to add, “We have incredible people doing the job.”
Trump began the day at the White House with another dig at “forest management” in California.
“There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor,” he said.
Later, at a press conference in Northern California, he suggested emulating Finland, which has no shortage of forests and few fires. “They spend a lot of time raking” the forest floor, he said.
At one point, Trump said he and California Gov. Jerry Brown are “on the same path” in terms of forest management.
Before flying back east, he met briefly at an airport hangar with families and first responders impacted by the shooting at the Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks. The shooting left 12 dead. “What can you say other than it’s so sad to see,” he said after the meeting. “These are great people. Great families, torn apart,” he told reporters. “We just hugged them and we kissed them — and everybody. And it was very warm.”
He added: “It was tragic and yet, in one way, it was a very beautiful moment.”