By South China Morning Post | Created at 2025-01-12 19:04:37 | Updated at 2025-01-12 23:28:10
4 hours ago
US president-elect Donald Trump on Sunday sharpened his criticism of California’s handling of the wildfires roaring around Los Angeles, as the state’s governor urged him to come and witness the damage in person.
“The fires are still raging in LA. The incompetent pols [politicians] have no idea how to put them out,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
“This is one of the worst catastrophes in the history of our Country. They just can’t put out the fires. What’s wrong with them?” he wrote.
Democratic governor Gavin Newsom, long a target of Trump’s criticism, pushed back in an interview which was broadcast on Sunday, but also offered a conciliatory hand.
“Responding to Donald Trump’s insults, we would spend another month,” he said on NBC’s Meet the Press programme. “Every elected official that he disagrees with is very familiar with them.”
But in a pivot, the governor added: “I called for him to come out, take a look for himself. We want to do it in the spirit of an open hand, not a closed fist. He’s the president-elect.”
He said he had received no response from Trump to his invitation so far.
