President-elect Donald Trump says he will "probably" visit Los Angeles next week to see the aftermath of devastating wildfires.

trump told nbc newsKristen Welker said Saturday that he plans to visit after taking office Monday, saying, "I'll probably visit by the end of the week."

"I was actually going to go yesterday," he added, "but I thought it would be better if I went as president. I suspect that would be more appropriate."

Trump's visit comes just weeks after the Pacific Palisades fires initially broke out on January 7, fueled by strong Santa Ana winds. Over the next few days, fires continued to break out in Los Angeles County, including Altadena. While first responders worked around the clock to contain the fires, more than 12,000 homes, buildings and structures were destroyed in the fires, displacing many residents. At least 25 people were also killed.

The president-elect has long been critical of California's Democratic leadership, particularly Gov. Gavin Newsom, and his handling of wildfires. Although Newsom had previously invited Trump to visit the state to view last week's devastation, Trump took to his social media platform Truth Social to lash out at the governor and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and criticize the wildfires. Make baseless claims.

“Governor Gavin Newscum refuses to sign a water restoration declaration put before him that would allow millions of gallons of water (from excess rain and snowmelt from the north) to flow daily into many areas of California , including areas that are currently burning in an almost apocalyptic manner," Trump once wrote, calling Newsom an insulting epithet.

newsom told nbc news Last week, it would take "another month" to "respond to Donald Trump's insults."

Trump also told Welker on Saturday that he had not spoken directly with Newsom since the fire broke out. Asked if California disaster relief would be his top priority after taking office, the president-elect responded: "We will, no, we will look at it from a lot of angles. We will require water to be released from the north into the lower part of California. area."

His comments came after Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said earlier this week that additional federal aid to help Los Angeles deal with the fires "probably should be conditional."