Biden cancels Italy trip in final days of his presidency to focus on federal response to LA wildfires

By Donald Judd and MJ Lee, CNN

(CNN) — President Joe Biden will no longer travel to Italy this week as scheduled, the White House announced late Wednesday, canceling the trip in the final days of his presidency to monitor raging wildfires across the Los Angeles area.

“After returning this evening from Los Angeles, where earlier today he had met with police, fire and emergency personnel fighting the historic fires raging in the area and approved a Major Disaster declaration for California, President Biden made the decision to cancel his upcoming trip to Italy to remain focused on directing the full federal response in the days ahead,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.

Six wind-driven fires blazing across Los Angeles County remained largely uncontained at the time of the White House announcement, with authorities issuing evacuation orders late Wednesday related to a brushfire in the Hollywood Hills near Runyon Canyon.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that as of Wednesday night, there were “five dead, likely more.”

“Just complete and utter devastation, and I’ve been to a lot of these fires, a lot, going back to Paradise. This approximates Paradise,” Newsom, a Democrat, said.

Biden was scheduled to travel to Rome on Thursday, where the White House said earlier in the day that he’d meet with Pope Francis, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and Italian President Sergio Mattarella. Biden also had been set to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday in Rome for what was likely to be their final meeting of Biden’s presidency.

During the trip, Biden had planned “to discuss efforts to advance peace around the world, including Pope Francis’ work to alleviate suffering for vulnerable communities,” national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters during a virtual gaggle Wednesday previewing the travel.

And in his meeting with Italy’s leaders, he was expected to “highlight the close and enduring bilateral relationship,” Kirby said, while thanking Meloni for her leadership as president of the G7 and highlighting a new agreement that will see the G7 disburse $50 billion in loans to Ukraine.

The first lady was expected to travel with the president and meet with World Food Program Executive Director Cindy McCain around a new announcement surging humanitarian assistance to what the White House says will “deal with many of the worst crises facing the world.”

It’s not the first time domestic issues have forced the president to upend foreign travel. In October, Biden postponed a scheduled trip to Germany and Angola as Hurricane Milton made landfall.

And just this week, Biden had been set to travel to the Coachella Valley and designate a new national monument, but the wildfires escalated significantly after he touched down in Los Angeles Monday with intensifying winds ultimately canceling the event.

The natural disaster scrambled the president’s plans and led to him receiving a briefing from local officials in Santa Monica Wednesday before he was scheduled to return to Washington.

There, Biden touted the federal response and vowed that the government was “prepared to do anything and everything as long as it takes to contain these fires and help reconstruct, make sure we get to normal.”

“It’s going to be a hell of a long way, it’s going to take time, but the federal government is here to stay as long as you need it and everything you need,” Biden, who was also in Los Angeles for the birth of his great-grandchild, said.

This story has been updated with additional details.

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