“His team is performing above and beyond expectation,’’ Newsom said of Trump. | AP Photo/Christian Monterrosa Trump antagonist Newsom lavishes praise on president for fire response

AMERICAN CANYON — Gov. Gavin Newsom, who rarely misses an opportunity to criticize President Donald Trump, offered rare praise Wednesday for the president during a tour of areas affected by catastrophic fires and widespread power outages in Northern California.

Newsom said Trump has been “a partner’’ and that his administration has been “extraordinary” in its response to a state in crisis. His office announced earlier Wednesday that California had been awarded a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which will enable local, state and tribal agencies to apply for 75 percent reimbursement of their costs in responding to the Easy Fire in Ventura County.


California previously received the same federal grant for the massive Kincade Fire in Northern California and the Getty and Tick fires in Southern California.

“His team is performing above and beyond expectation,’’ Newsom said of Trump, following a visit to meet with the senior residents of Las Casitas Mobile Home Park in American Canyon, which has been without power since Saturday. “Every single request we’ve had to the Administration has been met.’’

Asked by POLITICO if he has heard from Trump during the firestorms, Newsom said he “reached out formally yesterday ... because I haven’t talked to the president” on California’s statewide emergency to date. But, he acknowledged, “I have not heard back.”

He said the Easy Fire declaration represented “a record response” from the Trump team, including from the acting FEMA Director Peter Gaynor, who “has been outstanding.” FEMA staff are embedded in the State Operations Center working closely on shelters and direct federal assistance, Newsom’s team said.

For now, that represents a stark turn from Trump's past positioning. While the state's Democratic leaders have framed wildfires as a climate change problem, the Republican president has blamed California for mismanaging its forests. He famously suggested last November while touring the Camp Fire aftermath that the state should "spend a lot of time on raking and cleaning and doing things" like Finland.

In January, Trump said on Twitter he would withhold billions of dollars in federal emergency relief for California unless the state conducts "proper Forest Management." "I have ordered FEMA to send no more money," he wrote. "It is a disgraceful situation in lives & money!"

On a range of other issues, California’s Democratic governor and the Republican president have been high-profile combatants on social media, where both have significant followings. They have verbally sparred over immigration policy, climate change, the GOP tax bill, environmental issues like the Endangered Species Act and impeachment issues. The president most recently lashed out at Newsom as a “do nothing’’ over a suspended law that compels candidates to release their tax returns.

Trump and Newsom have also sparred over the more than 60 lawsuits filed by the state challenging the White House on issues ranging from reproductive rights to federal funding for sanctuary cities.

Newsom acknowledged that while “I have had no trepidation expressing a different point of view” from Trump, he believed that in the past week of intense crisis, Trump came through for California. Speaking to POLITICO, Newsom said, “And it matters ... I just want to do everything in our power to stay above the fray — and he’s been a partner."

It wasn't entirely a love affair, however. Minutes before he praised the president, Newsom lashed out at the Trump administration for its “shameful” attempts to overturn California’s stringent auto emissions standards.

Federal relief thus far has focused largely on combating wildfires, but two Republican state lawmakers on Wednesday directly asked Trump to help with blackouts by providing personal generators and water to rural residents. In their letter, Sen. Scott Wilk (R-Santa Clarita) and Assemblyman Tom Lackey (R-Palmdale) blamed the Democratic governor for allowing blackouts to persist.

"Actions speak louder than words and Gavin Newsom has allowed this to become the 'new normal' despite his words to the contrary," they wrote. "While bureaucrats at utility companies turn power on and off, and politicians wring their hands in despair, people are suffering. Our constituents need help now."