LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – President Donald Trump arrived in Los Angeles Tuesday afternoon after saying residents were tired of homelessness and that his administration would “do something about it”.
The president spoke about the problem aboard Air Force One on Tuesday before Air Force One landed in LAX at around 4:15 p.m. as part of a fundraiser.
Earlier in the day, Trump told reporters that he had tried “very seriously” to set up some sort of “individual task force” to address the homelessness problem.
“We cannot allow Los Angeles, San Francisco and numerous other cities to self-destruct by letting what happens,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One before traveling to the Bay Area, where he spoke at around 11 am Clock landed
“We have people who are on our… best highways, our best roads, our best entrances to buildings… where people live in those buildings
pay huge taxes where they went to these places for prestige, ”said the president. “In many cases [building tenants] came from other countries and moved to Los Angeles or to San Francisco for the prestige of the city and suddenly they have tents. Hundreds and hundreds of tents and people live at the entrance to their office building. And they want to go.
“And the people of San Francisco are fed up and the people of Los Angeles are fed up,” he said. “And we’ll look at it and we’ll do something about it.”
Last week, Trump sent a White House delegation to LA to meet with Mayor Eric Garcetti and examine the local response to the homeless crisis, which the president has described as the result of liberal political policies, especially in so-called protected cities.
US President Donald Trump has just landed in LAX to participate in fundraising drives in Los Angeles on September 17, 2019. (Photo by Nicholas Kamm / AFP) (Photo credit should be NICHOLAS KAMM / AFP / Getty Images)
Garcetti has left the door open to the possibility of government aid to LA with excess property or money to provide additional housing. The mayor also pushed back a White House report suggesting the use of law enforcement agencies to tackle homelessness, saying there is no way for authorities to hold back from the problem.
Garcetti said he wasn’t invited to meet with the president while he was in LA, but he posted a video on social media taken from one of the city’s homeless shelters.
“It’s time for us to stop politics and not demonize the Americans who are on the streets,” Garcetti said in the video. “This is your watch, Mr. President. This is our watch. “
It was announced on Tuesday evening that Secretary of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Ben Carson would meet Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore on Wednesday morning in LA
During his stay at Southland Tuesday, Trump will attend a roundtable before attending a fundraiser by real estate developer Geoffrey Palmer before traveling to San Diego on Wednesday.
Tickets for the fundraiser reportedly start at $ 1,000 for individuals and go up to $ 100,000 for couples who also attend a VIP reception and have a photo opportunity with the president. The Beverly Hills fundraiser will be one of four in the state during this trip, and the GOP estimates it will raise more than $ 15 million.
Los Angeles has been frequently visited by President Barack Obama, but this is only Trump’s fourth trip and demonstrations are expected.
Trump wasn’t the only politician to be in Los Angeles on Tuesday. Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke visited Skid Row Tuesday morning before an afternoon panel discussion.
Comments are closed.