What did the people of California do to deserve Trump visiting on top of the wildfires?
The devastating forest fires in California continue to burn. So far it’s confirmed they’ve claimed 63 lives, with over 630 people still missing.
A week ago, President Trump took to Twitter complaining that billions of dollars was being wasted on “poor forest management” and threatening to withhold funding. Trump’s view that the increasingly severe forest fires are a result of man’s inefficiency rather than rising temperatures would not have played well with the California governor Jerry Brown or with locals who have lost everything. Did someone remind Trump that his famous Mexican wall (if it ever gets built) will be running right through California, and that it might be more tactful to change his tune?
Interior minister Ryan Zinke visited the town of Paradise, which has been completely destroyed, on Tuesday and said there were “lots of reasons for the blaze”, adopting a far more appropriate tone. Suddenly Trump changed tack and released disaster funding, thanked the firefighters, and told beleaguered residents, “I am with you all the way.”
The deadliest fire in California’s history has burned through 160,000 acres, and the president plans to visit this weekend to “assess the impact” for himself. I hope that the weather allows him to land – after all, he missed honouring the dead on Armistice Day and two no-shows in as many weeks doesn’t play well, even to Trump followers.
A presidential visit will accomplish nothing, cost a fortune, and just allow this terminal narcissist another photo-opportunity as he tours a few smouldering streets.
