President Donald Trump will visit North Carolina, California, and Nevada this week, marking the first trips of his second White House term.
Trump on Tuesday announced the scheduled trips during a press conference about new spending on artificial intelligence. The president said he will leave for his trips on Friday.
“We’re going to take care of Los Angeles. I’m going there. I’m going to California, which has been abandoned by Democrats. And I’m going to North Carolina, very importantly, first. I’ll be there on Friday and then, going from there to Los Angeles, and then I’m going to Nevada,” Trump told reporters.
North Carolina
Trump will survey the recovery efforts from last year’s powerful Category 4 hurricane that devastated much of western North Carolina and other parts of the state. Hurricane Helene also hit the neighboring states of Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida.
More than 100 people died in North Carolina because of Helene, and state officials estimated the destruction caused will cost a record $59.6 billion in damages and recovery needs.
During the 2024 presidential election, Trump on the campaign trail visited the swing state and accused the federal government of not helping the hurricane victims in the state.
California
Trump said he planned to visit areas devastated by wildfires that have burned through the Los Angeles area since Jan. 7, killing at least 27 people and forcing tens of thousands to evacuate.
The president recently blamed the fires on mismanagement by California Gov. Gavin Newsom, accusing him of refusing to sign a water declaration that would have allowed “millions of gallons of water” to flow into many parts of the state.
“I will demand that this incompetent governor allow beautiful, clean, fresh water to FLOW INTO CALIFORNIA! He is the blame for this. On top of it all, no water for fire hydrants, not firefighting planes,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. “A true disaster!”
Newsom called Trump’s accusations “misinformation” and invited the president to visit the state. In 2018, Trump met with Newsom, and together they surveyed damage from the Paradise fires.
Nevada
Trump said he wanted to thank his supporters in the battleground state of Nevada for voting for him in the 2024 presidential election.
“I’m really going to Nevada to thank them for the vote because we won Nevada overwhelmingly and that’s usually a Democrat vote. And I just want to go there to thank Nevada for the big vote,” Trump said Tuesday.
In 2016, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton beat Trump in the state’s popular vote, 48 percent to 46 percent, according to political election tracker 270towin. In 2020, former Vice President Joe Biden won by about 2.5 percent over Trump.
Trump swept all seven swing states in the 2024 election and won both the Electoral College and popular votes.
