President-elect Donald Trump said Wednesday that the wildfires ripping through the Los Angeles region were “a true tragedy” and blamed the disaster in part on the state’s Democratic governor.
Speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill after meeting with Republican lawmakers, Trump criticized Gov. Gavin Newsom for the scarcity of water that has made it harder to fight fires that have killed at least five people. He didn’t explain what the governor could have done about the dry, windy conditions.
“This is a true tragedy and it’s a mistake of the governor, and you could say the administration,” Trump said.“The governor has not done a good job,” Trump said. “With that being said, I got along well with him when he was governor, we worked together very well. And we would work together — I guess it looks like we’re going to be the one having to rebuild it.”
Trump, who spoke for about seven minutes, said that on the first day of his administration he would close the border. “It’s going to be closed very strongly,” he said, adding that he would “take people out who were criminals.”
Trump also said that prior to his visit to the Capitol he met with members of President Jimmy Carter’s family at Blair House. Asked about potentially acquiring Greenland via military action, Trump said he was pleased with the reception his son and other representatives received during a visit there on Tuesday. “It was like a lovefest,” Trump said.
