Lisa Lambert
BBC News

When Trump lands in LA today, where he is expected to survey the damage of one of the area's two recent wildfires, he will undoubtedly bring up California's water.

He already has discussed it this morning, while visiting areas hit by Hurricane Helene, calling on California "to release the water".

Here's part of what he said: "They wouldn't have had a problem if they released the water when I told them to, because I told them to do it seven years ago."

Going back to his 2016 campaign and first term, Trump pushed California to move water from the state's north to the south. His chief rationale had nothing to do with fires, but with supporting the state's large agricultural producers.

In 2020, California sued to stop him from sending water from rivers and a major estuary known as the Delta to farms, saying he was hurting endangered species, primarily a small fish known as the Delta smelt. Fresh water is pumped from the state's northern mountains and their snow pack into the south through the Delta, where some of it mixes with sea water.

Since then, Trump has made the smelt a talking point in his campaigns and on Monday after being sworn in, he signed a memo called "Putting People Over Fish: Stopping Radical Environmentalism to Provide Water to Southern California.", external He has also repeatedly called for turning on the "faucet" in the north.

Now he is saying that turning on the "faucet" could have stopped or even prevented the historic fires.

That seems up for debate, but one thing is not: this is not the last fight California will see over water.

New fires flared up in California ahead of Trump's visit to LA today.

The blazes - named Laguna, Sepulveda, Gibbel, Gilman and Border 2 - flared up on Thursday in the counties of Los Angeles, San Diego, Ventura and Riverside.

Sepulveda, the one in LA County, was fully contained by Friday afternoon, hours before Trump was due to land. The major wildfires, the Palisades and Eaton fires, are mostly contained and the Hughes fire, which had grown in recent days is about 56% contained.

Trump knows the Los Angeles area well already - Trump National Golf Club Los Angeles is roughly 40 miles (64km) away and he has worked in the entertainment industry.

Rain is expected to start in Los Angeles on Saturday morning, and while Angelenos are welcoming it in helping extinguish flames, they are also bracing for it to rush down the freshly burned hills in mudslides.

Trump and Newsom might want to avoid politicspublished at 21:29 Greenwich Mean Time 24 January

21:29 GMT 24 January

Gary O'Donoghue
Senior North America correspondent

Image source, EPA

Donald Trump loves nicknames. He calls the California governor, Gavin Newsom, "Newscum".

In turn, the governor has previously called the president "deranged", among other things, and was one of the most high profile Democratic campaigners for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris during the election.

There's no scheduled meeting between the two during Trump's brief, two-hour visit to Los Angeles today, but the governor says he will be there at the airport with a red carpet when Air Force One touches down.

But both men might want to avoid too much politics during the visit.

The governor could be a leading candidate for the Democratic nomination in 2028, if he handles the clean-up and rebuild after the fires - and President Trump has nothing to gain by appearing to punish Angelinos - this Democratic area still has plenty of Republicans in it who have lost everything.

However, two things could derail it all. First the governor has called for a legal fighting fund to oppose Trump-era policies, and the president has threatened to tie federal assistance to changes in state environmental and water policies.

These two will find it hard to cooperate.

Image source, Reuters

As we mentioned earlier, in addition hurricane-struck North Carolina, Trump is visiting Los Angeles today.

We're still awaiting the president's arrival - but why is he heading there?

Earlier this month, multiple destructive wildfires broke out in southern California, burning down whole neighbourhoods, thousands of structures and killing 28 people in the cities of Altadena and the Palisades.

Quickly after the fires broke out, the disaster was politicised.

Trump blamed California's wildfires on its governor, Gavin Newsom. The president was also critical of former president Joe Biden for approving grants to reimburse California for firefighting costs.

This visit will mark the first time Newsom and Trump meet in person since the president was inaugurated earlier this week.

Image source, Reuters

Donald Trump confirmed earlier that he has withdrawn federal security protection for former top US health official Anthony Fauci, who has faced death threats.

"When you work for government, at some point your security detail comes off. And you know, you can't have them forever," the US president told reporters in North Carolina.

Trump said concerned former government employees could hire private security, suggesting he could even recommend names.

Fauci, 84, was the head of America's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the chief medical presidential adviser during the Covid pandemic.

The doctor faced death threats during and after the pandemic, as well as criticism from Republicans over mask mandates and other Covid restrictions.

Back to DC now, where the US Senate could hold a final vote on Pete Hegseth's nomination for defence secretary this evening.

Trump's embattled choice to lead the US military carries numerous controversies, but most Republicans are now onboard with his nomination.

Two Republican women, Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, voted against Hegseth's nomination during a procedural vote this week. Both emerged as frequent critics of Trump during his first term.

On Thursday, Murkowski said in a statement that she "cannot in good conscience support his nomination".

Collins also said she was "concerned that he does not have the experience and perspective necessary to succeed in the job". Trump told reporters on Friday he was "very surprised" by their decision.

However, Republicans appear to have the votes at this moment to confirm Hegseth, and they will have backup with a tie-breaking vote from vice-president JD Vance should the Senate hit a 50-50 vote deadlock.

Trump's visits to disaster-struck areas mired in politicspublished at 20:05 Greenwich Mean Time 24 January

20:05 GMT 24 January

Gary O'Donoghue
Senior North America correspondent, in Los Angeles

Often in times of natural disasters, Americans look to their presidents for solace – seeing them as a kind of “consoler in chief”.

But Donald Trump’s first trip from Washington to hurricane-ravaged North Caroline and the scorched, devastated fire-hit communities in Los Angeles, are mired in politics, more than empathy.

In California, Democrats from the governor down have been the target of Trump’s ire.

He says they’re more interested in preserving rare species of fish than getting water down to the big population centres such as LA.

State officials counter that reservoirs were full when the fires broke out, and the sheer scale of the blazes and the inability to fly planes with fire retardant because of high winds meant no amount of water on the ground could have stemmed the spread.

When he tours the destroyed Palisades area later, all eyes will be on whether he follows through on his threat to link financial aid to changes in state water management policies – and whether he is serious about completely sidelining Fema, the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Carl Nasman
News correspondent, reporting in Washington DC

Several safety escorts and police vehicles were stationed outside the DC Planned Parenthood clinic this morning.

Escorts told me they are there every morning, but are on higher alert today given today’s March for Life and Trump’s recent pardon of anti-abortion activists.

Cai Pigliucci
Reporting from the March for Life

We’re at the March for Life rally where thousands have come out with anti-abortion messages.

People here are carrying signs saying “Love life, choose life.”

Peyton, who works for a college ministry in Alabama, came up for the rally. She said she believed there should be a national ban on abortion, and she hopes Trump will implement it.

Trump, for his part, has previously denied he would sign a national ban. Peyton said she doesn’t’ “think an abortion is going to help a woman".

"I don't think it’s healthy for a woman psychologically, physically and emotionally," she says. Many here, like Peyton, have a deeply religious beliefs.

Another woman, Rosie, told us she wants to see more than a national ban - a “non-option.”

David, standing beside her, said: “I love that Roe v Wade was overturned, but maybe put some legislation into office to incentivise people not to have abortion.”

Vice-President JD Vance was one of a number of speakers at the 52nd annual March for Life in DC today.

“We march to protect the unborn, we march to proclaim and live out the sacred truth that every single child is a miracle and a gift from God," Vance told the crowd.

He said the government had failed a generation by “permitting a culture of abortion on demand” and by “neglecting to help young parents”, telling the march that Trump would be the "most pro-family, most pro-life American president of our lifetimes”.

“I want more babies in the United States of America," he said, adding this administration would work to make it easier for parents to afford the costs of children.

President Trump also addressed the march via video, trumpeting his role as a "participant" in the overturning of Roe v Wade.

Other prominent Republicans - including House Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis - also spoke at the rally.

Image source, EPA

As Trump sets off for LA, let's turn our attention to Washington DC, where the March for Life - an annual anti-abortion demonstration - is taking place.

In 2022, Trump delivered anti-abortion groups and religious conservatives a major win when the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, which enshrined the constitutional right to abortion. Trump had appointed enough conservatives justices to the bench to ensure the outcome.

The ruling allowed states to make their own laws about abortion, meaning that the US now has a patchwork system of states that allow abortion up to a certain point, and others that ban it.

But during the 2024 election, abortion access became a highly motivating issue for Democrats, and Trump found himself trying to appease his conservative base while not scaring away moderate voters who saw banning abortion outright as too extreme.

His position on abortion became deliberately opaque, and the strategy appeared to work for his campaign.

Now back in the White House, Trump has granted anti-abortion activists another boon, pardoning 23 people convicted of blocking access to abortion clinics.

President Donald Trump and his wife, Melania, have boarded Air Force One, ending their trip to North Carolina.

He will now head to Los Angeles to survey the damage of the ongoing wildfires, which have so far killed at least 28 people and destroyed a number of neighbourhoods.

The BBC's North America correspondent, Anthony Zurcher, is also on board the plane with Trump. He'll update us on the California leg of the president's trip later today.

Image source, Reuters

Rebecca Hartmann
Reporting from Swannanoa

Furkan and Dilek Koc make Christmas ornaments for a living from their shed in Swannanoa, North Carolina. They made personalised ornaments for President Trump ahead of his visit here earlier today.

In September, as Hurricane Helene swept though the state, the couple and two children were forced to flee their home in the middle of the night as the nearby river burst its banks and the water level quickly rose.

You can still see the watermark left on the outside of their home where the levels rose to more than two metres.

Dilek recalls waking up her husband at 01:45 EST (06:45 GMT) after the geese they owned started squealing.

She asked him to check the water level of the river that borders their property. The banks had already burst and the family quickly evacuated their home.

They tell me they lost everything and only saved their dog. The other animals they kept on their land - geese and chickens - all perished in the torrent of water.

They’re yet to move back into their home but are hopeful they will return soon.

Sarah Smith
North America editor, reporting from Swannanoa

In the small town of Swannanoa, the devastation left by Hurricane Helene is still everywhere. People who lost their entire homes are still living in trailers and camper vans.

There were also Trump/Vance signs left over from the election indicating that the president would get a warm welcome here. Hours before he was due to arrive, people were already lined up, in the cold, waiting to greet him and the first lady

After Hurricane Helene struck, Trump claimed that the Biden administration had diverted funds for disaster relief and given them to programmes supporting migrants instead. And even that funds were being deliberately withheld from areas that vote Republican.

None of that is true, but residents in Swannanoa still believe that President Trump will provide more help than Joe Biden did.

“He’s for us” is the general view from people who hope a presidential visit will highlight their problems and result in greater assistance in the future

Next, President Trump is expected to head from North Carolina to Los Angeles, which has been fighting wildfires.

After that, he will head to Las Vegas, but it is unclear when he will arrive there.

One resident describes how the tornado tore through his father's farm business, while his mother was left stranded in the house in waist-deep water.

He tells Trump he has complained about "not acceptable" insurance procedures he has filed get compensation for his house.

Another man says he started moving vehicles from 02:00. "I went to higher ground with some vehicles - and the water came for everybody," he says.

"There was trees falling, things uprooting - I've been through floods all my life, never seen nothing like it - my house is destroyed," he says.

Warning: This post contains some distressing details.

Another resident says his house was submerged in 25 feet of water.

"We were watching houses, trailers, bodies come floating by us - there were about eight bodies found in our area in the first two weeks," he says.

He is now staying in a camper van, and he doesn't feel enough resources were deployed to the area.

People forgot about Asheville, he says. "Everything just stopped."

Speaking to members of the West family, whose property was damaged by the extreme weather, he says: "You were treated very badly by the previous administration".

He adds he is assembling the Army Corps of Engineers, and is in touch with the White House chief of Staff Susie Wiles to arrange this. We're going to get you the resources you need, he says.

He congratulates members of the community for their efforts, repeating earlier comments about how lethal Hurricane Helene was.

He invites members of the community to share their stories.

Image source, Reuters

Trump is now speaking to people who have been affected by Hurricane Helene - stick with us and we'll bring you the key points.

Back to North Carolina now, where Donald Trump just attended a briefing with local officials in Asheville, surveying the recovery from a hurricane that struck last October.

He once again criticises the work of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema), which is tasked with responding to such disasters, under the Biden administration.

“Fema was not doing their job,” he says, noting that some North Carolinians still don’t have power or hot water and it was “totally unacceptable".

Trump also says “a whistleblower testified that some Fema employees refused to help people who displayed Trump signs on their properties".

Fema did fire one staffer in Florida for allegedly directing workers to avoid homes with yard signs supporting Trump. At the time, Fema Administrator Deanne Criswell said it was a “clear violation of Fema’s core values".