President Trump receives briefing on California wildfires during Sacramento stop

Smoke from the West Coast's massive wildfires was visible as Air Force One began its approach into Northern California.

President Donald Trump was briefed about the wildfires during a stop near Sacramento, California, on Monday. He also recognized the work of the California National Guard, which has airlifted scores of stranded people to safety over the past week.

Trump has blamed poor forest management for the deadly fires, though many of the blazes have roared through coastal chaparral and grasslands, not forest.

When addressing reporters after exiting Air Force One, Trump was asked if climate change was also part of the problem, in combination with forest management.

He says, “I think a lot of things are possible.” But he says when it comes to forests, downed trees and dried leaves on the ground are “really a fuel for a fire, so they have to do something about it.”

The fires have killed at least 33, burned millions of acres and forced thousands from their homes on the West Coast.