Trump again suggests California mismanaged forests as he heads to fire-damaged state

President Donald Trump returned Saturday to criticism of forest management decisions he suggested are at least partly to blame for deadly wildfires in California, as he prepared to visit firefighters and others working to contain the blazes and locate the missing.

"We will be talking about forest management. I've been saying that for a long time. It should have been a lot different situation," Trump said before leaving the White House early Saturday.

"But the one thing is that everybody now knows that this is what we have to be doing, and there's no question about it. It should have been done many years ago."

He did not say exactly what he thinks California officials have done wrong. Trump will meet Saturday with California Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat and frequent critic of the president's, and with Democratic Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom and emergency workers.

"I think everybody's on the right side. It's a big issue, it's a big issue, a very expensive issue, but very, very inexpensive when you compare it to even one of these horrible fires. And we'll save a lot of lives," Trump said.

Trump drew wide criticism for a tweet last week blaming the wildfires on "gross mismanagement" of California timberlands and threatening to hold back federal funding from the Democratic-led state.

"There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor," Trump wrote. "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!"

The criticism included a statement by Brian Rice, president of California Professional Firefighters, who called Trump's words "ill-informed, ill-timed and demeaning to those who are suffering as well as the men and women on the front lines."

Trump's response to natural disasters has varied, and sometimes appears to depend on the partisan makeup of the state or region affected.

He later changed course and has tweeted his support for the firefighters and victims of the blazes.

"Thank you to the great Firefighters, First Responders and @FEMA for the incredible job they are doing w/ the California Wildfires. Our Nation appreciates your heroism, courage & genius. God Bless you all!" he said in a Wednesday tweet.

No wildfire in California history has done more damage than the Camp Fire, which has killed more than 70 people, a toll that is expected to rise, and destroyed nearly 7,000 structures since it started on Nov. 8. The fire burned down the forest town of Paradise, north of Sacramento.

The Woolsey Fire started northwest of Los Angeles the same day and has been moving toward the Pacific Coast. It has killed at least two people and destroyed 483 structures. Among the areas being threatened by the fire is Thousand Oaks, which is still grieving after 12 people were killed in the Nov. 7 mass shooting at Borderline Bar and Grill.

Trump did not respond to a question Saturday about whether he would meet with shooting victims.

"Many more people are missing than anyone thought possible," Trump said Saturday.

The list of people unaccounted for in the Camp Fire exceeded 1,000 on Friday, after authorities released more than 600 names in an effort to identify those who had been found by friends and relatives.

The president has traveled to California - a state he lost by a wide margin in the 2016 election - only one other time since taking office. He visited the state in March, when he surveyed prototypes of his long-promised U.S.-Mexico border wall, addressed military personnel at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar and attended a fundraiser to benefit the Republican National Committee.

Little was known ahead of time about Trump's Saturday itinerary.

In Chico, near the destroyed town of Paradise, retiree Robert Johnson, 51, sat Friday evening a long table laden with fliers advertising everything from temporary housing assistance to free showers, in the parking lot of a Chico Walmart. He has a place to stay since fleeing Paradise, but that didn't make Trump's recent comments sting any less.

"That really upset me when he first said that," he said, referring to Trump's suggestion that state forestry management could have prevented the fire. "It's not California's fault because we're in a drought."

Displaced residents from the destroyed town descended on the suburban shopping center where an old Sears serves as FEMA's disaster recovery center. More than 500 people registered for help on Friday alone, according to FEMA spokesman Brad Pierce.

That includes Barbara and Rick Garabiles, whose badly damaged Paradise home had been in their family for three generations. When the evacuation order came, their car wouldn't start, neighbors had already fled and they had to flag down a stranger to drive them to safety.

They have slept on a cot in a church for a week and initially hadn't heard about Trump's visit.

"I wish he would stay away," Rick, 74, said with a chuckle that turned into a cough. The acrid air exacerbates his lung condition.

"I'm glad he's coming because he's going to do what he's supposed to do. Other than that, he's not my favorite president," said Barbara, 71.

They had lived in their home on an acre and a half of woods for 20 years.

"It was a beautiful place up there," Rick said.

“Yeah, Paradise was beautiful. No more,” a teary Barbara added.