Grief and politics in Texas |
Thank you for signing up!
Subscribe to more newsletters here
The latest in politics and policy. Direct to your inbox. Sign up for the Evening Report newsletter
Subscribe
*{box-sizing:border-box}body{margin:0;padding:0}a[x-apple-data-detectors]{color:inherit!important;text-decoration:inherit!important}#MessageViewBody a{color:inherit;text-decoration:none}p{line-height:inherit}.desktop_hide,.desktop_hide table{mso-hide:all;display:none;max-height:0;overflow:hidden}.image_block img div{display:none}sub,sup{font-size:75%;line-height:0} @media (max-width:620px){.image_block div.fullWidth{max-width:100%!important}.mobile_hide{display:none}.row-content{width:100%!important}.stack .column{width:100%;display:block}.mobile_hide{min-height:0;max-height:0;max-width:0;overflow:hidden;font-size:0}.desktop_hide,.desktop_hide table{display:table!important;max-height:none!important}} {beacon}
PRESIDENT TRUMP and first lady Melania Trump touched down in Kerrville, Texas, on Friday to view the aftermath of the deadly floods amid ongoing scrutiny of the emergency response and sorrow over the tragedy.
“Well, this is a tough one,” Trump said at roundtable event with first responders in front of the presidential seal and matting emblazoned with “Texas Strong.”
“It’s hard to believe the devastation…I’ve never seen anything like this,” he added. “This is a bad one.”
At least 170 people died in the flash flood that struck the Texas Hill Country in the middle of the night over the Fourth of July weekend. More than 120 people are still missing, some of them children.
“They’ve been devastated, they lost their child or two children, it’s just hard to believe,” Trump said.
“A little narrow river that becomes a monster, and that’s what happened,” he continued. “The First Lady and I are here in Texas to express the love and support and the anguish of our entire nation.”
Trump arrived at the roundtable event somber after having met with families of the victims.
“It’s a horrible thing,” Trump told reporters before leaving the White House.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) greeted the Trumps upon landing. The president will also meet with state and local officials and families of the victims.
Shortly before Trump arrived, he updated a disaster declaration to make additional counties eligible for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) assistance programs.
"There has been extraordinary collaboration with the state and the federal government to make sure that we address Texans' needs as quickly as possible through disaster assistance programs,” Abbott said.
SPOTLIGHT ON FEMA
Trump and Abbott toured the affected region with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, whose pledge to eliminate FEMA has been in the spotlight since the disaster.
CNN and others reported that FEMA’s response to the floods was slowed because Noem enacted a new rule requiring that she personally sign off on any expense greater than $100,000.
"She has no idea what she’s doing,” Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.), who served as director of Florida’s Division of Emergency Management under Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), said on MSNBC’s "The Weeknight."
“The best thing that she can do now is … sponsor my bill, get FEMA out of Homeland. Get it away from her, OK, so that we can start reforming and rebuilding the agency,” he continued.
Noem denied the report in an interview with Fox News.
"Our Coast Guard, our Border Patrol BORTAC [Border Patrol Tactical Unit] teams were there immediately,” she said on "Fox & Friends."
“Every single thing they asked for, we were there,” she added.
The president defended Noem and the federal response while speaking to NBC News on Thursday.
"She was literally the first person I........© The Hill