President Donald Trump, who has criticized state and local leaders over water policies and forest-management practices, landed in Los Angeles County on Friday afternoon and toured the massive damage from the Palisades fire.

Trump, who was sworn in this week as the nation’s 47th president, got a first-hand look at the toll of the fire, which broke out on Jan. 7 amid extreme winds in the region. But an agenda released by his staff Friday morning indicated he would not tour the devastation of the Eaton fire in Altadena and Pasadena or meet with residents there.

Gov. Gavin Newsom, who Trump has repeatedly criticized, was on the tarmac at LAX to greet the president. They exchanged a cordial embrace.

“I appreciate the governor coming out and greeting me,” Trump said. “We want to get the problems fixed. It’s like you got hit by a bomb, right?” he asked Newsom.

“We’re going to need your help,” Newsom responded, reminding Trump, “You were there for us during COVID.

“I have all the expectations we’re going to be able to work together,” Newsom said.

“We’re going to get it fixed,” Trump said.

Also Friday, Trump announced he is considering scrapping the Federal Emergency Management Agency for a different disaster relief system.

“I say we don’t need FEMA, we need a good state government. … You fix it yourself,” he told officials at a briefing near the Palisades fire area.

The 14,021-acre Eaton fire was 95% contained and the 23,448-acre Palisades fire was 77% contained Friday, according to Cal Fire.

Together, they’ve killed 28 people — 11 in the Palisades fire area and 17 in the Eaton area, according to the Los Angeles County medical examiner’s office. Some 18,000 homes, business and cars were damaged or destroyed.

Around 2:20 p.m., a few dozen people had spread out around a small park across the street from the Sepulveda Boulevard In-N-Out Burger, waiting for Air Force One to make its final descent into LAX. It landed at 2:56 p.m.

Trump and the first lady went on to tour a neighborhood in Pacific Palisades with fire officials and homeowners.

“Unbelievable. It’s not really believable,” Trump said at one point of the destruction around him. During photo ops, firefighters gifted him a white helmet that read, “47.”

Later, Trump attended a sometimes friendly, sometimes contentious briefing with local leaders at various levels of government that touched on disaster funding, rebuilding and other issues.

Those present included Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass; Kathryn Barger, the Fifth District member of the county Board of Supervisors; Southern California Reps. Brad Sherman, D-Sherman Oaks, Young Kim, R-Anaheim Hills, and Judy Chu, D-Pasadena; and many other politicians and local officials.

Trump earlier Friday said federal aid for the recovery of California’s most devastating wildfires would hinge on the state establishing a voter ID law and changing its water management strategies.

“I want to see two things in Los Angeles. Voter ID, so that the people have a chance to vote, and I want to see the water be released and come down into Los Angeles and throughout the state,” Trump told reporters in North Carolina, where he was touring Hurricane Helene recovery efforts ahead of his trip out west.

Despite the hurricane-force winds that prohibited crews from attacking the Palisades and Eaton fires by air for many hours, Trump has blamed previous administrations for neglecting structural issues in California that he said led to the devastation.

The L.A. County fires “could have been put out if they let the water flow,” he said again on Friday, reiterating a claim about water from the Pacific Northwest that some California officials have discredited.

There is no “valve” that moves water from the Pacific Northwest into California, they’ve said, or even a water shortage in Southern California. On Friday, all of the major reservoirs in Southern California were above their historic average levels.

“This has been debunked over and over again in the past two weeks,” said Peter Gleick, president emeritus of the Pacific Institute, a nonprofit water research center based in Oakland. “There is zero connection between firefighting water needs and California’s water policy. He’s simply repeating lies.”

The cleanup also was contested. At one point, Trump said many homeowners want to bring in dumpsters to take care of the waste themselves.

Bass said residents should be able to return home within the week, but that keeping people safe is a top priority.

Experts have warned that the burning of things like paint, furniture, electronics and cars can release toxic ash and other chemicals that may require safety gear to handle.

Observing that Trump’s visit would lack a stop at the scene of the Eaton fire, Chu said in a statement, “While the President will be in the Palisades area to see communities impacted there and hold a briefing with us, he does not plan to visit or assess the damage in northern Pasadena and Altadena, a vibrant Black community that has served as a hub of Black Los Angeles for generations.

“I will continue pushing him to make time to see our area and hear from the survivors and first responders there,” she said, adding that federal aid should not come with strings attached.

Altadena Town Councilmember Connor Cipolla also was disappointed.

“It’s unfortunate,” he said. “There are supporters of his living in tents on Altadena Drive. He has supporters who are in the neighborhood.”

Cipolla said the visit was an opportunity for Trump to “show people you’re going to have our back for the next four years.”

As for FEMA, Trump said in North Carolina that instead of having federal financial assistance flow through the agency, Washington could provide money directly to states.

“FEMA has been a very big disappointment,” Trump said. “It’s very bureaucratic. And it’s very slow.”

This isn’t the first time Trump has come to survey a fire-ravaged California.

In 2018, Trump toured areas decimated by the Camp fire, which killed 85 people and destroyed nearly 19,000 structures in Northern California’s Butte County. Trump then, like he is now, was extremely critical of the state’s management and threatened to withhold federal aid.

“There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor,” Trump said in a post on what was then Twitter. “Billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost, all because of gross mismanagement of the forests. Remedy now, or no more (federal) payments!”

This time, Trump is castigating California’s water management.

In an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity this week, Trump accused Newsom of refusing to “release the water that comes from the north.”

“I don’t think we should give California anything until they let the water run down,” Trump said.

At the briefing on Friday, Trump said he would waive federal permits to rebuild and took a swipe at the California Coastal Commission.

“I’m not gonna let them get away with their antics,” he said.

Local leaders have urged Trump to pull back from setting conditions on federal support in the area.

Newsom, who is widely seen as a potential 2028 presidential candidate, said those displaced from their homes “deserve to see us all working together in their best interests, not politicizing a human tragedy and spreading disinformation from the sidelines.”

He was quick to respond to Trump’s comments, with his office reiterating on X that “California pumps as much water now as it could under prior Trump-era policies.”

“Under current CA law you must be a CA resident and US citizen (and attest to being one under penalty of perjury) AND provide a form of ID such as driver’s license or passport that has been approved by the Secretary of State in order to register to vote,” the governor’s office also stated. “Conditioning aid for American citizens is wrong.”

Leah Berman, 36, grew up in the Palisades Highlands from the time she was 4 years old. On Friday, she returned to the area for the first time since the Palisades fire destroyed her childhood home, driving from her home in Ojai. Berman was glad that more people, including the president, would be able to see the devastation of the fire for themselves, something she says is hard to truly understand until one lays eyes on it.

“Politics aside, if the president didn’t come people would be mad. If he does come, they’re mad that it’s a photo op. I would rather have him be there than not, especially the first week of presidency,” Berman said. “Sometimes you need to see things up close to the understand it. These are not forests. I’m kind of glad that he’s here so he can see what burned, what didn’t burn, to see for himself.”

Duda Phillips, 27, lost her family-owned business, Palisades Psychic Shop, in the fire. The shop stood in the Palisades for 15 years, offering readings, meditations, chakra balancing, crystals and more. The family’s loss was compounded by Phillips’ father-in-law also losing his home.

“There’s nothing left of my shop, it’s nothing but ashes. So it’s literally starting from scratch. My savings, my time, my energy, my livelihood is just gone,” she said.

Standing near Will Rogers State Beach before the president arrived in the area, Phillips said, “I’m very happy and grateful that he (Trump) is showing up for our community and showing up for Los Angeles as a whole, as well as just California.”

She thought he’d eventually make his way to hard-hit Altadena.

Whether Trump would visit was the last thing on the minds of Altadena residents Anne and Adam Rodman, both 66. Their home, near Altadena Drive and Fair Oaks Avenue, was destroyed, and Anne Rodman’s Volkswagen melted into the driveway, a reminder of the fire’s fury.

On Friday, the two were back, donning Tyvek suits as they sifted through what was left of their property.

Trump’s conditions on federal aid for the region did not sit well with them.

“It would be great if he did (help), if somebody prevailed upon him,” Anne Rodman said. “But I just wouldn’t count on it. I can only hope. But he’s using this as a stick to beat California.”

Staff writers Steve Scauzillo, David Wilson and Luca Evans and The Associated Press contributed to this report.