Republican Gov. Chris Christie is returning to New Jersey from the presidential campaign trail and is preparing to meet with his cabinet and brief the press.

Christie had been scheduled to remain in New Hampshire through the weekend, when the bulk of the storm was expected to dump up to 18 inches of snow on parts of New Jersey.

Christie will hold a storm briefing with his Cabinet members Friday night and then will speak with the media from the Newark Department of Transportation garage.

Christie said Friday he was canceling campaign events Friday and Saturday because of the weather, but New Jersey’s first lady Mary Pat would stay in New Hampshire.

Earlier, YWN reported that Christie came under criticism for not returning to New Jersey.

Christie participated in a storm conference call Thursday night with members of his cabinet and said he plans to receive another briefing Friday.

“If I feel like it’s necessary for me to get down there, I will,” he said. “But I’m not driving a plow truck, OK? We have all of our people ready to go. They know what to do. We’ve been through Hurricane Sandy, this cabinet, so 6, 8, 10, 12 inches of snow on a weekend will not be something that I think will be more than we can handle.”

(AP)