Trump has no immediate plans to visit wildfire damage

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

President Donald Trump, who has made four visits to hurricane zones in recent weeks, isn’t rushing to survey the damage from California’s wildfires.

The president has no immediate plans to visit the state to inspect the aftermath of the wind-whipped wildfires, which have swept through parts of Northern California, including the region’s famed wine country.

The wildfires have killed at least 42 people and destroyed thousands of homes, becoming the deadliest and most destructive series of blazes in California’s history.

For Trump, the wildfires are ravaging a state that has long been a Democratic stronghold and gave his presidential rival, Democrat Hillary Clinton, a commanding victory in California during last year’s election. Trump received about 31 percent of the vote in the state, prompting questions of whether politics have influenced his plans after the president visited Republican-leaning states such as Texas and Louisiana and campaign battleground Florida after they dealt with massive hurricanes. He also visited Puerto Rico to view hurricane damage and traveled to Las Vegas after the city’s deadly mass shooting.

“I’d like to see him here,” said Rick Rogers, 52, who lost his home in Santa Rosa, Calif., to the fire.

Suzanne Finzell, 62, a self-described “dyed in the wool” Democrat who lost her rented home in the blaze, accused Trump of having “no empathy.” But she added: “Even if he came here, what could he possibly do?”