Editorial: California burns: Where’s the president?

As raging wildfires devour the lives, homes and dreams of Californians in an unprecedented scale, one voice has been conspicuously mute through day after day of crisis: President Trump.

This is not a man who is reticent to let Americans know what is foremost on his mind. He is also someone who should have learned by now — after devastating hurricanes and the Las Vegas massacre — that Americans expect their president to step forward with empathy and resolve in moments of national trauma.

Yet Trump has offered no more than a few perfunctory words about the Wine Country fires that have left at least 40 dead, consumed thousands of structures and stretched the physical and mental mettle of the dedicated firefighters and medical professionals to the edge of exhaustion.

On Tuesday, before welcoming the Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins, Trump said he had spoken with Gov. Jerry Brown and that the federal government would stand with the “people of California and be there with you in this time of terrible tragedy and need.”

That’s it? No talk of visiting California? No expressions of appreciation for the first responders? No condolences for those who lost their lives, or the many more who lost their homes? No recognition or pledges of federal support for the monumental task of rebuilding the neighborhoods and business that were devoured in the fire?

Then again, how much is a Trump pledge worth, anyway? His typically rapid-fire succession of tweets this week included some that seemed to blame Puerto Rico for its post-hurricane financial crisis and a warning that “We cannot keep FEMA, the Military & the First Responders, who have been amazing (under the most difficult circumstances) in P.R. forever!”

This is a president who views tweets as his primary means of connecting with the people, without the media filter he loathes. Dare we suggest that forcing NFL players to stand for the national anthem — to name one of his recent obsessions — is not a life-and-death situation. The fires are.

And how many times has Trump tweeted about the fires since they were whipped by winds into life-threatening force early Monday: zero.

Among the subjects that have merited a Trump tweet since then:

•Oh, that NFL anthem issue (in which he falsely characterized the commissioner’s position; Roger Goodell did not demand that players stand).

•A threat to revoke the licenses of broadcast networks that have become (in his view) too “partisan, distorted and fake” (though there is no federal licensing of broadcast networks).

•A promotion for his obsequious interview by his Fox News pal Sean Hannity.

•A false claim that the New York Times set up “Liddle Bob Corker” by recording its interview with the Republican senator from Tennessee. In fact, Corker had consented to the recording.

•Praise for a flattering new book about him.

•A false claim that the NFL is “getting massive tax breaks” while its players disrespect the flag, anthem and country. In fact, the league voluntarily relinquished its tax-exempt status two years ago.

•A boast: “Nobody could have done what I’ve done for #Puerto Rico with so little appreciation.”

•More self-congratulation: “Such a wonderful statement from the great @LouDobbs (of Fox Business Network) ‘We take up what may be the most accomplished presidency in modern American history.’”

So how can it be that the loss of 40 human beings on American soil did not merit a single tweet? The most forgiving interpretation would be that Trump, along with the cable networks that seem to attract his laser focus and have not made this a huge story, have a case of disaster fatigue. Perhaps the problem is that he hasn’t been blasted for his underwhelming response:There is no surer way to provoke him to his phone. The most cynical speculation would be that he could not care less about a state that despises him like no other.

Devastated California awaits your leadership, Mr. President. Tweet up, if you care.

This commentary is from The Chronicle’s editorial board. We invite you to express your views in a letter to the editor. Please submit your letter via our online form: SFChronicle.com/letters.