Trump 2nd term updates: Trump says USAID is run by 'radical lunatics'

President Trump reflected on the destruction but resilience he saw during his tour of the Palisades Fire damage in Los Angeles.

"I don't think you can realize how rough it is, how devastating it is until you see it," he said during a roundtable with officials including Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. "It is devastation."

Trump met with some homeowners during his tour, noting that many of them want to rebuild, calling the residents "amazing."

"We're going to work very hard with the mayor, the governor, the supervisor and everybody, and get the resources behind you," Trump said.

Trump noted that he had a "very positive talk" with California Gov. Gavin Newsom upon landing in Los Angeles that afternoon.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt previewed the executive order Trump said he is planning to reform FEMA.

"What it will do is it will direct a council of FEMA advisers to look at the agency and to root out the corruption, the incompetence in the bureaucracy. There is no question that there are political biases, unacceptable political biases at FEMA," Leavitt said during her first gaggle with the press aboard Air Force One earlier Friday while en route to Los Angeles.

Pressed on Trump's statement that he was thinking about abolishing FEMA, the press secretary stressed that it is under consideration right now, but no final decision has been made.

"We're thinking about abolishing, we're thinking about it at this point in time," Leavitt said.

On conditioning aid, Leavitt said there would be no conditions put on North Carolina, but that "California needs to address the water issue in their state that is critical to ensuring that when fires happen in California, there's resources there to quell these fires and to help people."

-ABC News' Molly Nagle

Top Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs Committee raised concerns that freezing foreign aid "undermines American leadership and credibility around the world" in a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

They warned that the pause will cause "damage" around the world where U.S. aid is delivered -- specifically mentioning the PEPFAR program, which delivers HIV/AIDS treatment to millions of people in 55 countries, and the President's Malaria Initiative, which distributes mosquito nets and malaria medicine to millions of people.

"For years, Republicans in Congress have decried what they see as a lack of U.S. credibility vis-a-vis countries like China, Russia, and Iran. Now our credibility is on the line, and it appears we will cut and run from American commitments to our partners around the world," Reps. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., and Lois Frankel, D-Fla., wrote in the letter. "In arbitrarily blocking our foreign assistance, we lose trust: from the people relying on this aid for survival whether in Gaza, Sudan, Haiti, Ukraine, or those standing in harm's way delivering this aid."

The letter comes after the State Department instructed officials overseeing projects funded by grants and awards that have already been distributed to issue immediate "stop-work orders" until the secretary of state can review the program to determine whether to continue, modify or halt the program. The decisions are due in the next 85 days.

-ABC News' Benjamin Siegel

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump have landed in Los Angeles to tour the wildfire damage.

They were greeted on the tarmac by California Gov. Gavin Newsom, with whom Trump has feuded over the handling of the wildfire disaster and federal aid.

Despite that, the meeting was cordial. The two shook hands and promised to work together.

"We're looking to get something completed, and the way you get it completed is to work together. He's the governor of the state, and we're going to get it completed," Trump said. "They're going to need a lot of federal help. We're going to take care of things."

Newsom thanked Trump for being there.

"We're going to need your support. We're going to need your help," Newsom said. "You were there for us during COVID, I don't forget that, and I have all the expectations that we'll be able to work together to get this speedy recovery."