The mayor's office told Newsweek on Friday that "The priority remains fighting these fires and protecting Angelenos."

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass became evasive as reporters grilled her over the city’s preparedness for devastating wildfires that erupted while she was thousands of miles away on a trip to Ghana — and after the city slashed LA’s firefighting budget by tens of millions.

The LA Fire Chief warned in the weeks before the devastating Palisades fire that the decision to cut the department’s budget by nearly $18 million would diminish its ability to prepare for and respond to large scale emergencies.