New York Post:
President Trump and California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday traded rare compliments at a briefing on wildfires while agreeing to disagree on whether global warming is a contributing cause.
Newsom, a Democrat, and Trump committed to improving forest management and to avoiding a clash on whether climate change caused by fossil fuels is responsible, as Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said in a speech Monday and Newsom has often repeated.
The governor, who earlier this year lavished praise on Trump’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, hailed Trump’s emergency management orders that freed federal funds to fight fires.
“The major disaster declaration which you referenced, on Aug. 22 … was profoundly significant, not only to help us support our mutual aid system, but also individuals that are in desperate need of support,” Newsom told Trump of an order he signed.
“The state of California [and] your administration just entered into a first-type commitment over the next 20 years to double our vegetation management and forest management. I want to thank you for supporting that effort, funding that effort. We acknowledge our role and responsibility to do more in that space.”
Newsom conceded that Trump was right to blame dry leaves and logs on the forest floor for contributing to raging fires, saying, “There’s no question, when you look past this decade looking past almost 1000-plus years that we have not done justice on our forest management.”
But Newsom also pointed out the much of the land that’s on fire is federally owned and asked Trump to “agree to disagree” and “please respect, and I know you do, the difference of opinion out here as it relates to this fundamental issue on the issue of climate change.”
“Absolutely,” Trump replied.
