After touring the devastating Texas floods, President Donald Trump sounded somber as he promised to help rebuild communities devastated by the disaster.
“My administration is doing everything in its power to help Texas,” Trump said during an afternoon roundtable, saying that he approved a request for funding to help the region within two minutes of receiving it. “We’ve deployed over 400 first responders and assisted or enabled more than 1,500 rescues.”
Accompanied by Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX), first lady Melania Trump, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and John Cornyn (R-TX) and more than a dozen other federal, state, and local officials, Trump expressed sympathy over the flooding’s devastation and the more than 135 lives confirmed lost in the tragedy.
“We mourn for every single life that was swept away in the flood, and we pray for the families that are left behind,” Trump said. “It’s amazing, the incredible spirit from those families. I don’t know– I don’t even know how they do it. But moments ago, Melania and I spent a lot of time with them, that’s why we’re a little late. I think this was a good reason to be late, frankly.”
Making a rare public appearance, the first lady spoke as well, giving her “deepest sympathy” to the parents who lost young children in the flooding.
“We are grieving with you. Our nation is grieving with you,” she said. “We just met with the wonderful families. We prayed with them. We hugged. We held hands. They share stories, and I met beautiful young ladies. They gave me this special bracelet from [Camp Mystic] in honor of all of the little girls who lost their lives.”
But the meeting wasn’t entirely without controversy. When Trump took to the press for questions, the first reporter asked about families upset because alerts didn’t reach people in time, which could have saved some of the lost lives.
The president took umbrage at the question, calling the reporter, who works for a local CBS station, a “very evil person.”
“I think everyone did an incredible job under the circumstances, this was, I guess, Kristi said a 1-in-500, 1-in-1,000-year [flood],” he said. “Only a bad person would ask a question like that, to be honest with you. I don’t know who you are, but only a very evil person would ask a question like that. I think this has been heroism.”
Despite Trump’s offense, Trump and Abbott later acknowledged that an improved alert system may be in order for the area to prevent a similar disaster of the same magnitude.
Abbott has revised the agenda for a special session of the Texas state legislature to address the flooding and said that he will work to devise a response that’s right for the area. He added, “We’re going to work on alerts, we’re going to work on every single solution” to prevent another disaster.
After flying to Kerrville aboard Air Force One Friday morning, Trump’s motorcade stopped near the Guadalupe River, which runs through the city at the site of an overturned tractor-trailer.
According to pool reports, evidence of flood damage, such as washed-away trees by the river, could be seen as the presidential motorcade drove to the site and the president met with locals.
Before leaving the White House Friday morning, Trump described the Texas floods as “a horrible thing” and said that he would soon be there “with some of the great families and others — the governors, everybody.”
Along with elected officials, Texas native Dr. Phil McGraw was present and gave remarks, saying that the sudden loss of a healthy child is the most psychologically damaging experience a parent can have.
“That’s the worst thing that can happen, stress-wise, in life,” McGraw said. “The truth is, you never get over it, you get through it.”
A day with Florida state troopers nabbing illegal immigrants for ‘Alligator Alcatraz’
Summing up the event before returning to Washington, Trump emphasized that the community will fully rebuild and praised the first responders involved.
“Two words: unity and competence,” Trump said. “If you were to ask me two words that I’ve seen here, one is unity, the unity has been unbelievable, and then the competence.”