He also implied that he would not help Los Angeles rebuild if California did not cooperate with his administration.
“I want two things in Los Angeles. I want proof of identity for voters and I want the water to be released,” said the tribune.
The septuagenarian has long been convinced that California allows undocumented immigrants to vote, without providing proof. He has also been repeating for weeks a lie denied by all the experts, according to which the Democratic state manages its water poorly and only had to open a tap to save Los Angeles from the flames.
Upon his arrival in California, Mr. Trump, however, appeared all smiles with one of his pet peeves, Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom. “We want to resolve the problem,” he assured.
“The way to get there is to work together with the governor of the state,” he added. “They’re going to need a lot of federal aid. Unless you don’t need it?”
“We are going to need your help,” admitted Mr. Newsom, saying he was ready to “work together to ensure a rapid recovery”.
Mr. Trump then observed by helicopter the devastation left by the fires, which left nearly thirty dead in Los Angeles, then met survivors.
The president has long established California as a counter-model for the country, denouncing its societal policies deemed too left-wing and its commitment to the energy transition.
California is also a sanctuary state, which refuses to follow the administration’s injunctions on the expulsions of undocumented immigrants.
-At the same time as this move, Mr. Trump’s administration continued to stage the anti-immigration offensive promised during his campaign.
The White House announced the arrest of “538 illegal criminal migrants” and assured that “hundreds” had been deported by military aircraft rather than civilians for the first time.
An operation that the White House boasted about.
“We are taking out the worst criminals” in the country, assured Mr. Trump, without further details, in Asheville (North Carolina), his first stop.
“It’s a pure propaganda operation,” said Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, expert at the American Immigration Council, on X.
For comparison, during the 2024 budget year (October to the end of September), under the presidency of Joe Biden, the border police expelled 271,000 undocumented migrants, or an average of 742 people per day.
The Pentagon confirmed that two military planes took migrants to Guatemala. A total of 79 Guatemalans were on board, according to the Central American country’s migration institute.
The Republican president promised to expel a total of “millions” of people.
