During a visit to the fire-ravaged Northern California town of Paradise over the weekend, U.S. President Donald Trump mistakenly called it "Pleasure," not once but at least twice.
Trump visited the Butte County town on Saturday, witnessing the devastation caused by the Camp Fire—a blaze believed to be the deadliest in the state since 1991.
The fire started on November 8 and has resulted in 77 deaths, fire officials said Sunday. Thousands of firefighters have attended the scene, which has burned 150,000 acres.
"You're watching from New York or you're watching from Washington, D.C., and you don't really see the gravity of it," Trump said during his tour of the area.
"I mean, as big as they look on the tube, you don't see what's going on until you come here. And what we saw at Pleasure [sic]—what a name, right now—but what we just saw, we just left Pleasure [corrected off-camera]...or Paradise. And what we saw at Paradise is just—it's just not acceptable." Trump appeared alongside California governor Jerry Brown, who visibly winced at the error.
During his tour, the president said the experience had not changed his views about climate change. When asked about his position, he said: "No. No. I have a strong opinion.
"I want great climate," Trump continued. "We're going to have that. And we're going to have forests that are very safe because we can't go through this every year. We go through this—and we're going to have safe forests. And that's happening as we speak—as we speak." His remarks came during a briefing at the Incident Command Post in Chico, California, on Saturday.
The Butte County sheriff said in a news release on Sunday that there were now 993 people unaccounted for in the region. On Saturday, human remains of one person were found in the area of Butte Creek Canyon. Of the 77 who died in the fire, officials said they had "tentatively identified 67 individuals."
Also on Sunday, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) said in an alert that the Camp Fire in Butte County was 65 percent contained.
Its analysis read: "Crews have continued to work in steep and rugged terrain to implement direct and indirect control lines, which will aid in stopping the fire's forward progress.
"Firefighters and utility cooperators worked within the fire's interior to patrol for heat and remove hazards. Multiple California Urban Search & Rescue (US&R) Task Forces and US&R Human Remains Detection Canine Search Teams have arrived to assist Butte County Sheriff with the search for, and recovery of, victims missing in the areas affected by the Camp Fire."
The White House said Friday that Trump had issued major disaster and emergency declarations to provide support to the fire-hit region, including financial and medical aid. "I think, hopefully, this will be the last of these," he said 24 hours later. "This was a really, really bad one."
But roughly a week earlier, the president's Twitter feed displayed a more aggressive rhetoric on the subject of forest management. "There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor," he tweeted on November 10.
In the same post, Trump added: "Billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost, all because of gross mismanagement of the forests. Remedy now, or no more Fed payments!"
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Jason Murdock is a staff reporter for Newsweek.
Based in London, Murdock previously covered cybersecurity for the International Business Times UK ... Read more
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.
