Donald Trump Criticizes California Official, President Biden Confirms Federal Support To Handle Los Angeles Fire

Los Angeles fire fighting efforts. (Wikimedia Commons/Cal FIRE_Official)

JAKARTA - United States President Joe Biden ensures federal support continues to be available to help contain fires in Los Angeles, while scathing criticism comes from President-elect Donald Trump.

In an upload on President Biden's social media, he gathered Vice President Kamala Harris and major emergency response officials on Sunday afternoon local time to hold a virtual briefing on the handling of fires in Los Angeles.

"We will continue to support the state and local responses with federal resources, as long as necessary," he tweeted on his official X account, @POTUS as quoted Monday, January 13.

His remarks about the fire as a major disaster opened federal aid for those affected by forest fires, paving the way for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to provide support.

"FEMA is now starting to support, with major disaster statements, the people affected," said FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell on Fox News Sunday, urging people to sign up for help via the Disaster Assistance website.gov.

Today I convened the @VP and key response officials from my team for a virtual briefing on the Administration's efforts to suppress the wildfires across Los Angeles.

We will continue supporting the state and local response with federal resources, for as long as it takes. pic.twitter.com/gsV5dNXeT9

— President Biden (@POTUS) January 13, 2025

Today I donated the @VP and key response officials from my team for a virtual briefing on the Administration's efforts to suppress the fires across Los Angeles.

We will continue supporting the state and local response with federal resources, for as long as it takes. pic.twitter.com/gsV5dNXeT9

Support can range from funding for house repairs to money to replace lost food or medicines, FEMA spokesman Michael Hart said, adding aid could be provided within days.

Meanwhile, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order to reduce the number of state government bureaucracy needed to rebuild lost homes and businesses.

Firefighters are still struggling to control the blaze that has burned most areas of Pacific Palisades in Los Angeles, California, United States to the ground, while fires that spread and strong winds still threaten the public on Sunday.

Six fires that occurred simultaneously hit the second-largest city in the US since Tuesday last week, killing at least 14 people as of Sunday morning. At least 16 other people are believed to be missing.

The Governor of Newsom estimates that the death toll will increase.

"I have deployed the SAR team. We have also deployed corpse sniffer dogs and there are probably many more," he told NBC's "Meet the Press" program.

The Governor of Newsom added that the fire is likely to be the worst natural disaster in US history "in terms of costs associated with it."

The fire has damaged or destroyed 12,000 buildings, firefighters said.

As of Sunday, more than 100,000 people in Los Angeles County have been ordered to evacuate, while another 87,000 face evacuation warnings.

The fire has burned the entire environment into burning debris, destroying the homes of wealthy and famous people as well as ordinary people, and leaving a terrible sight.

Over the past 24 hours, the Palisades Fire spread to an area of 1,000 hectares (400 hectares), setting more houses on fire, officials reported.

Cal Fire Officer Todd Hopkins said, although 11 percent of the Palisaades Fire was now under control, the fire had burned more than 22,000 hectares (8,900 hectares).

Hopkins said at a news conference the fire had spread to Mandeville levy and threatened to spread to Brentwood, a high-end environment that is home to many celebrities, and the San Fernando Valley. The fire is also moving slowly towards the north-south-south-freeway 405.

Separately, Donald Trump criticized local officials and states he judged poor in dealing with the disaster.

"The fire is still burning in the LA, politicians who are incompetent do not know how to extinguish it. Thousands of magnificent houses have been destroyed, and many more will be destroyed soon. There are deaths everywhere, they cannot extinguish the fire. What's wrong with them?" he said on his Truth Social social media account.

"The fire is still raging in the LA. Uncompetent politicians don't know how to extinguish it," Trump said on his Truth Social platform, quoted by The Times of Israel.

"This is one of the worst disasters in the history of our country. They can't extinguish the fire. What's wrong with them?" he continued.

With a week before returning to the White House, Trump has launched a series of unproven attacks accusing the Democratic Governor of Newsom of failing to respond to the fire. The Governor of Newsom himself has invited Trump to visit Los Angeles and review the destruction with him.

"Thousands of magnificent houses have disappeared, and many more will soon be lost. There are deaths everywhere," Trump said in his post.