President Trump will take his first trip since returning to the White House on Friday to storm-ravaged North Carolina and California, which is suffering some of the most deadly and destructive blazes in the state’s history.
The trip comes as the president has left the question of additional disaster aid for California unsettled.
Mr. Trump is expected to make his first stop in Asheville, N.C., which suffered devastating flooding from Hurricane Helene last fall. Mr. Trump then plans on traveling to the Los Angeles area, where he will observe the damage from wildfires that have killed more than two dozen people, destroyed entire neighborhoods and forced desperate evacuations.
But on the likelihood of additional federal aid for each state, Mr. Trump has struck very different tones. While he has expressed support for North Carolina, Mr. Trump has criticized California’s Democratic leaders for the disaster response and threatened to withhold federal aid if they did not make changes to unrelated environmental policies in the state.
Presidents have typically visited areas recovering from natural disasters to show personal support and assure community members of federal aid for emergency medical workers and local leaders. Mr. Trump, however, has often used natural disasters as a vehicle to unleash political grievances, threatening to withhold money from political opponents, making false statements about disaster responses by Democrats and promising support for political allies.