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Members of the Trump administration visited Los Angeles Tuesday to get a firsthand look at the city’s sprawling homeless encampments and efforts to control them, while President Donald Trump directed his staff to develop policy options to address the national crisis of people living on the streets. The visit by a delegation from several federal agencies came about two months after the Republican president called the homelessness crisis in Los Angeles, San Francisco and other big cities disgraceful and faulted the “liberal establishment” for the problem. (Blood, 9/10)

President Trump has ordered White House officials to launch a sweeping effort to address homelessness in California, citing the state’s growing crisis, according to four government officials aware of the effort. The planning has intensified in recent weeks. Administration officials have discussed using the federal government to get homeless people off the streets of Los Angeles and other cities and into new government-backed facilities, according to two officials briefed on the planning. (Stein, Jan, Dawsey and Parker, 9/10)

“The spike in homelessness we are seeing in places like L.A. and San Francisco is alarming,” a spokesman for the Department of Housing and Urban Development. “While there are many state and local issues at play here, we’re looking at a range of options available to us at HUD—as well as other agencies—for possible federal action, if and where appropriate,” a spokeswoman said. (Lazo, 9/10)

Local and state officials were skeptical. The offices of Garcetti and Gov. Gavin Newsom put out statements listing steps they said the administration could take right away if it truly intended to help solve the crisis. As he pursues reelection, Trump has used homelessness to bash leaders in California, where he remains deeply unpopular. (Oreskes, Smith and Queally, 9/10)

Newsom has sparred with President Donald Trump before over homelessness, and a spokesperson assailed the president's record in a statement that California "stands ready to talk" if Trump is willing to discuss "real investment" in housing. Newsom's first budget, passed earlier this year, committed billions of dollars to housing and homelessness." [Trump] could start by ending his plans to cut food stamps, gut health care for low-income people, and scare immigrant families from accessing government services," spokesperson Nathan Click said. (White and Marinucci, 9/10)

Sources told The Chronicle that the federal visitors to Los Angeles mentioned the possibilities of building new facilities and renovating existing ones, and that the federal government might play a large role in overseeing health care and housing. They also discussed how to crack down on street encampments. The latest Trump action was first reported by the Washington Post. (Fagan, Koan and Ravani, 9/10)