Pacific Palisades residents visited the home Saturday following a visit from President Donald Trump a day earlier, increasing access to their property since a fire broke out in the Palisades more than two weeks ago.
Trump met with residents and local officials on Friday, holding a roundtable discussion at the local fire station, in which he allowed those affected by the fires to raise their concerns for the first time.
President Donald Trumpand First Lady Melania Trump listen as Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass speaks during a briefing after a tour of the Pacific Palisades neighborhood affected by recent wildfires in Los Angeles, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
(This author participated, and urged the President to appoint a special master, as the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund did, to ensure that California actually protects fire-damaged areas rather than every liberal pet policy. Spends money on rebuilding.)
During the meeting, local residents raised concerns that they had been told it would take 18 months to clean up the debris on their lots, and that local permitting processes would prevent them from rebuilding.
Furthermore, most of the affected residents were prohibited from even visiting the ruins of their homes. Trump sided with the residents against the city, and when Mayor Karen Bass pushed back, he insisted that they be able to access their property immediately.
Bass said they could leave within a week. “A week is a long time,” President Trump said, adding that residents should be able to leave immediately.
The next day, residents arrived at the assembly point in nearby Santa Monica Parking Lot #3, where police escorts were leading the caravan of residents to Highlands, one of the areas of Pacific Palisades that was not as badly affected as the rest. Were from the city.
They pushed to move into other neighborhoods – Marques Knolls, “Alphabet Streets,” the Bluffs, and others – many saying President Trump had promised them access.
While some were turned away, some persevered and were able to travel to their lot – at least for a short time.
“I personally needed to go back,” one resident told Breitbart News. “We weren’t here when it happened [the fire] It happened, and luckily my parents listened to us and evacuated. …If we could get in today and not make my parents sit for hours – it worked. ,
Some residents reported continued denial by National Guard troops and police. One posted on Instagram: “They wouldn’t let us in, but they also said they wouldn’t arrest us if we went around them. So we left. ,
One who was able to get into a restricted area reported dismay to see “half-eaten food and empty water bottles” left behind by service workers who are repairing services and waiting for residents to return. We are eliminating threats in preparation for this.
Some people confirmed that there was nothing left of their homes but dust and debris. But some people were able to salvage a few surviving souvenirs – including ceramic Christmas ornaments – of their life in the neighborhood.
“I went up because a friend in Alphabet Streets found some things that were important to her and it was my hope to see if we had anything and I wanted to make it worse before it rained,” said .
Many expressed a commitment to rebuilding, and hope that President Trump’s pressure on Los Angeles and California will allow them to do so.
Joel B. Pollock is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News Breitbart News Sunday Sundays from 7pm to 10pm ET (4pm to 7pm PT) on Sirius XM Patriot. he is a writer Agenda: What should Trump do in his first 100 daysAvailable for pre-order on Amazon. He is also a writer Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s PresidencyNow available on Audible. He is the winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter @joelpollak,
