MCCLELLAN PARK, Calif. — President Donald Trump, touching down under smoky skies at McClellan Park for a briefing on the California wildfires, blamed uncleared dead trees and leaves for flames that have burned more than 3 million acres and killed 24 in the state.

The Republican president met with California Gov. Gavin Newsom at the business park, which is also the home to hangars for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection’s aircraft.

“When trees fall down, after a short period of time, about 18 months, they become really dry. They become really like a matchstick ... and they just explode,” Trump told reporters on the tarmac.

In a Round-Table briefing shortly afterward, the Democratic governor told the president that forest management is unquestionably a piece of the problem, but noted that 57% of the forests in California are on federally controlled land.

The visit brought into sharp relief the differences between the two on climate change and COVID-19. The governor, wearing a mask in his meeting with the president, says the fires are a direct result of a “climate damn emergency” and vowed to accelerate efforts to develop green energy in California. The president, who did not wear a mask during his visit, has pursued policies that encourage use of fossil fuels.

“The hots are getting hotter. The drys are getting drier,” Newsom told Trump, noting the state is also experiencing grass and brush fires in addition to forest fires. “Something has happened to the plumbing of the world. ... We submit the science is in, and observed evidence is self evident that climate change is real.”