In a surprise Oval Office visit, San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer met with Donald Trump on Tuesday, hours before the President left for a Florida rally to launch his 2020 re-election bid.
Faulconer, a moderate Republican who steers clear of publicly criticizing the President but has not supported his border policies, said in a tweet:
“I had a chance to briefly meet with the President to discuss a few big issues facing San Diego. We talked about the pending #USMCA deal, California’s homeless crisis, and I also brought up sewage coming from the Tijuana River Valley – and encouraged more federal action to fix it.”
The White House said they met for 19 minutes.
Faulconer was in Washington for the annual Border Trade Alliance conference and tweeted earlier that he had “a full schedule today with some of our nation’s leaders on trade, transportation, border staffing and more.”
A spokesperson for the mayor’s office said Faulconer had been scheduled to meet with a member of the White House staff, but was unexpectedly invited to see the President.
The White House said Trump met with Faulconer, who is co-chair of the U.S.-Mexico Border Mayors Association, to discuss the importance of the NAFTA-replacing United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. There was no mention in the White House statement of any discussion of immigration.
New! White House says @realDonaldTrump met with San Diego Mayor @Kevin_Faulconer in the Oval Office for a wide-ranging discussion. GOPer Faulconer & his city — one of US’s safest — have long had positive relations with Mexico on trade, border and immigration issues. Details: pic.twitter.com/geZ9uH5HUG
— Carla Marinucci (@cmarinucci) June 18, 2019
On social media, some said the meeting would have little impact, but others noted that it could be helpful in dealing with issues facing the city. In the end, the mayor posed with Trump at the iconic Resolute Desk.
Reality: Here in San Diego, Trump has no interest in our needs because we are in CA, a state that he can never turn red. Other than photo ops on the border to feed meat to his base, Trump doesn’t care.
— Jerry Twomey (@loose_electron) June 18, 2019
Mayor Faulconer meets with President Trump to discuss issues facing San Diego
https://t.co/zgn8SXTNK9 pic.twitter.com/SpJArI88xd— 10News (@10News) June 18, 2019
Updated at 8:45 p.m., Tuesday, June 18, 2019
