California Gov. Gavin Newsom and President Donald Trump shook hands and tried to play nice for the cameras on the tarmac Friday afternoon as Trump arrived in the state to tour the devastation left by the Los Angeles wildfires.
Trump landed shortly after 6 p.m. Eastern Time. Video on CNN showed Newsom walking up to the stairs on the tarmac and shaking the president's hand as the two shared a one-armed hug. As Newsom and Trump shared a brief exchange — not caught on microphone — video appeared to show the men sharing a political power shake, both tugging each other's arm.
The duo continued their brief exchange and walked over to waiting reporters.
Trump told reporters that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is working with California.
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"I think you're going to see some very big progress," he said. "They left him high and dry. And now we're going to be taking a little tour with some of the people from the area."
Trump thanked Newsom — whom he has derided for years as "Newscum" — and shook the governor's hand a second time.
"We want to get it fixed. We want to get the problem fixed," Trump added. "There'll be some ways. It's got you hit by a bomb, right?"
"Yeah," Newsom agreed.
"It's like he got hit by a bomb," Trump repeated.
Newsom thanked Trump for visiting and said it "means a great deal."
"Not just the folks in Palisades, the folks in Altadena that were devastated. We're going to need your support. We're going to need your help. You were there for us during Covid — I don't forget that. And I have all the expectations that we're going to be able to work together to get this speedy recovery," he said.
"We will. We're going to get it done. A tremendous number of lives have been affected. A lot of real estate has been affected. Nobody has ever probably seen anything like this, you can almost say since the Second World War. When you think of it. Nothing like this has happened. And we're going to get it fixed and we're going to get it permanently fixed so it can't happen again."
When asked how the two plan to work together despite fierce rhetoric, Trump said they have to work together.
"He's the governor of this state," said Trump. "And we're going to get it completed. They're going to need a lot of federal help. Unless you don't need any?"
"We're going to need a lot of federal help," Newsom replied, giving Trump an affectionate pat on the shoulder.
When asked about Trump's threat to withhold aid unless the state implements voter ID laws, Newsom replied: "I have all the confidence in the world we're going to work that out."
Watch the clip below or at this link.
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