Remarks and an Exchange With Reporters Upon Arrival in Los Angeles, California

The President. Hello, everybody.

So we just left North Carolina a little while ago. We have that in very good shape. We have the Congressmen in charge and—Michael Whatley, and we're going to do a lot of work. We have the Army Corps of Engineers working, as they are here.

And I think you're going to see some very big progress. They left them high and dry.

And now we're going to be taking a little tour with some of the people from the area. I appreciate the Governor coming out and meeting me. Gavin, thank you very much.

And we'll be talking a little bit. We want to get it fixed. We want to get the problem fixed. And they'll be some ways, but it's like you got hit by a bomb, right?

Governor Gavin C. Newsom of California. Yes.

The President. Like you got hit by a bomb.

Would you like to say something?

Gov. Newsom. Most importantly, thank you for being here. It means a great deal to all of us, not just the folks in Palisades, but 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'll be able to work together to get this speedy recovery.

The President. We will. We're going to get it done.

Tremendous numbers of lives have been affected. A lot of real estate has been affected. Nobody has ever probably seen anything like this——

Gov. Newsom. No.

The President. ——you can almost say since the Second World War, if you think about it. I mean, nothing like this has happened. And we're going to get it fixed, and we'll get it permanently fixed so it can't happen again.

And, again, we'll be talking a little bit later, and we'll get it worked out. Okay.

Gov. Newsom. I appreciate it, Mr. President.

The President. Thank you, Governor.

Gov. Newsom. Thank you.

The President. Thank you.

California Wildfire Recovery Efforts

Q. Mr. President, Governor Newsom, you have disagreed a lot over the past week over what has happened in this State. How do you plan to put——

The President. We've got to get it finished.

Q. ——your differences aside?

The President. We're looking to get something completed, and the way you get it completed is to work together. He's the Governor of this State. And we're going to get it completed. They're going to need a lot of Federal help—unless you don't need any, which would be okay.

Gov. Newsom. We're going to need a lot of Federal help.

The President. So we're going to take care of things. Okay?

Q. Governor Newsom, what do you make of President Trump wanting to condition aid on voter ID?

Gov. Newsom. I have all the confidence in the world we'll work that out.

The President. Thank you all. Thank you. I guess some of you are coming with us and some of you not. Thank you very much.