Joe Biden cancels trip to Italy, meant as final foreign visit of presidency, as fires rage in California

President Joe Biden on Wednesday cancelled the final overseas trip of his presidency just hours before he was set to depart for Rome and the Vatican, choosing to remain in Washington to monitor the response to devastating fires raging in California. “After returning this evening from Los Angeles, where earlier today he had met with police, fire and emergency personnel fighting the historic fires raging in the area and approved a Major Disaster declaration for California, President Biden made the decision to cancel his upcoming trip to Italy to remain focused on directing the full federal response in the days ahead,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement. The large Palisades fire sparked Tuesday morning as Mr. Biden was in Los Angeles, and the high winds that helped fuel its massive spread forced the president to scrub a planned visit to Thermal to announce two new national monuments. While flying back to Washington on Wednesday, Mr. Biden approved a federal major disaster declaration for Los Angeles County, allowing for federal funding to be made available for temporary housing and home repairs as well as low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses.