(The Center Square) – President Donald Trump, with 16 visits last year en route to the White House, is returning to North Carolina on Friday for the first time since winning the Nov. 5 election.
He told reporters on Tuesday that his weekend trip will begin in the Tarheel State and proceed to California and Nevada. The visit will be to the western part of the state, where this weekend will mark the beginning of the 18th week of recovery from Hurricane Helene.
Trump visited Swannanoa, not far from Asheville, on Oct. 21 to hear from residents and see the magnitude of the damage estimated at $53 billion. One hundred four fatalities in the state are linked to the storm, and 233 across seven states.
Fourteen of Trump’s stops in the state last year were for campaign rallies, including twice doing two on the same day. In addition to going to Swannanoa, he also made an appearance and glad-handed many while watching the Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord on May 21.
On Monday in the Capitol Rotunda, Trump after taking the oath said in part, “We now have a government that cannot manage even a simple crisis at home while, at the same time, stumbling into a continuing catalogue of catastrophic events abroad.
“Our country can no longer deliver basic services in times of emergency, as recently shown by the wonderful people of North Carolina – who have been treated so badly – and other states who are still suffering from a hurricane that took place many months ago or, more recently, Los Angeles, where we are watching fires still tragically burn from weeks ago without even a token of defense.”
Gov. Josh Stein, a Democrat, welcomed Trump’s visit, called it good news, and said he hoped to speak with the president. Stein spent the Martin Luther King holiday weekend in the mountains doing volunteer work in Buncombe, Henderson and Mitchell counties.
In Swannanoa, he was sorting clothing with Hearts with Hands; in Hendersonville, he helped bag food for families at St. James Episcopal Church; and in Spruce Pines, he was with the teams from Baptists on Mission helping repair homes.
