LOS ANGELES _ President Donald Trump arrived in California late Tuesday morning amid growing questions over his administration's plans to get involved in the state's homelessness crisis.
Trump is in the state for a two-day visit, with stops for fundraising in Palo Alto, Beverly Hills and San Diego. The fundraisers are expected to bring in $15 million and will benefit Trump Victory, a joint fundraising committee composed of the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee.
In recent months, Trump has used the issue of homelessness to bash the deep-blue state in advance of the 2020 election. While aboard Air Force One on Tuesday, he addressed the issue with reporters, saying that he considering the creation of an "individual task force" as a possible solution to homelessness, without providing more details.
"We can't let Los Angeles, San Francisco and numerous other cities destroy themselves by allowing what's happening," he said, adding that the homelessness crisis is prompting residents of those cities to leave the country. "They can't believe what's happening."
"We have people living in our ... best highways, our best streets, our best entrances to buildings ... where people in those buildings pay tremendous taxes, where they went to those locations because of the prestige," he said. "In many cases, they came from other countries and they moved to Los Angeles or they moved to San Francisco because of the prestige of the city, and all of a sudden they have tents. Hundreds and hundreds of tents and people living at the entrance to their office building. And they want to leave. And the people of San Francisco are fed up, and the people of Los Angeles are fed up."
The president said that he plans to discuss the topic further with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, who is joining him Tuesday in the San Francisco Bay Area.
California officials have been wary of the Trump administration's intentions, concerned that the president wants to use homelessness and urban ills as a wedge for the 2020 campaign. But they have said that they are willing to work with Trump.
In a letter issued Monday and signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom and mayors and county supervisors from across the state, state officials asked for 50,000 more vouchers that would aid people most affected by California's housing crisis. They also urged the Trump administration to provide incentives to landlords to accept vouchers.
"That's a pretty remarkable opportunity, if they're sincere in their desires," Newsom said at a news conference. "If they're insincere and this is, God forbid, about something else _ politics, not good policy _ then they'll reject it outright. I hope that's not the case."
Last week, officials from Trump's administration spent several days in Los Angeles meeting with city and county officials and homeless advocates. To the dismay of some local officials, the administration has said little publicly about any plans. Some speculate that the goal is to clear homeless encampments by moving people into government-run shelters on federal land.
On Monday, the White House floated a new goal: deregulation of the housing market to increase the supply of apartments, condominiums and homes.
Last week, representatives from the Department of Justice discussed possible "workarounds" with Los Angeles law enforcement union officials to deal with court settlements, rulings and lawsuits that have limited the way the Los Angeles Police Department can carry out enforcement efforts at encampments.
Of California's roughly 130,000 homeless people, some 90,000 were unsheltered as of last year. Within the city of Los Angeles, the number jumped in 2019 to more than 36,000, a 16% increase. In the county, the number is just shy of 59,000 _ a 12% bump over last year.
For Trump, he has indicated in interviews that scenes of homeless people who appear to be mentally ill and walking around mounds of trash in cities are unacceptable. In fact, he said, they're "inappropriate."
During a speech at a Republican conference in Baltimore on Thursday, Trump said his administration has given "notice" to California, though it was unclear what that "notice" was.
"Clean it up," he said. "You've got to do something. You can't have it. These are our great American cities and they're an embarrassment."
In preparation for Trump's arrival, protesters across the state mobilized Tuesday.
The Federal Aviation Administration on Saturday issued a VIP flight restriction, prohibiting planes, gliders, parachute operations, hang gliding, banner towing and "balloon operations" in a 32-mile radius around Palo Alto.
Alan Marling, a San Francisco-based activist helping organize an event at the Embarcadero in San Francisco, where a giant baby Trump balloon is expected to be flown, said protesters will fly their balloons despite the restrictions.
"If Donald Trump spends taxpayer money" to stop activists from flying baby Trump balloons, then "that just proves he is one," Marling said.
Also in the Bay Area, organizers from Raging Grannies and Vigil for Democracy planned to meet at Rossotti Field in Portola Valley. After Air Force One touches down at Moffett Field, in Mountain View, they'll follow the president's helicopters to a fundraising event at a Palo Alto mansion previously owned by Scott McNealy. The former home of the Sun Microsystems co-founder is on the market for $96 million.
A copy of the invitation for the event, which is being organized by the Republican National Committee, shows ticket prices ranging from $1,000 to $100,000. Big spenders will get a photo opportunity with the president, as well as "premiere seating" for the luncheon. A $35,500 donation provides only "preferred seating." The local organizer is not named.
And in Los Angeles, where Trump is slated to spend the night, the Revolution Club will protest Trump's visit to Beverly Hills, where he is scheduled to attend a roundtable with supporters and a fundraising committee dinner at the home of real estate developer and Republican donor Geoff Palmer.
