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 appeared to be 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.
A couple of hours before Trump touched down in Los Angeles, Newsom director of communications Izzy Gardon told Fox News Digital that "in coordination with the White House, the governor will greet President Trump on the tarmac upon his arrival in California."
"The governor is committed to advocating for the needs of Californians in partnership with the federal administration," she emphasized.
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.
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 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.
The president said on Friday, ahead of his arrival in Los Angeles, that he wanted to see "two things" before he would support federal disaster relief funds for California.
"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. Those are the two things. After that, I will be the greatest president that California has ever seen," Trump said.
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)
And 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.
