Trump tours Texas flood sites and defends officials amid mounting questions about response

KERRVILLE Texas AP President Donald Trump on Friday toured the devastation from catastrophic flooding in Texas and lauded state and local functionaries even amid mounting criticism that they may have failed to warn residents briskly enough that a deadly wall of water was coming their way Trump has repeatedly promised to do away with the Federal Urgency Management Agency as part of his larger pledges to dramatically shrink the size of leadership and he s fond of decrying personnel in Democrat-run states hit by past natural disasters and tragedy But the president struck a far more somber and sympathetic tone while visiting America s the majority populous Republican state highlighting the heartbreak of what happened while effusively praising elected leaders and first responders alike The search for the missing continues The people that are doing it are unbelievable Trump seated with personnel around a table with emblazoned with a black-and-white Texas Strong banner declared at a makeshift exigency operations center inside an expo hall in Kerrville He later added You couldn t get better people and they re doing the job like I don t think anybody else could frankly Since the July tragedy which killed at least people and left more than missing the president has been conspicuously silent on his past promises to shutter FEMA and return accident response to the states Instead he s focused on the once-in-a-lifetime nature of what occurred in central Texas Hill Country and its human toll We just visited with incredible families They ve been devastated the president declared of a closed-door meeting he and first lady Melania Trump had with the relatives of chosen of those killed or missing Honoring the casualties Trump s shift in focus underscores how tragedy can complicate political calculations even though he has made slashing the federal workforce a centerpiece of his administration s opening months He spent a lot of time Friday discussing the casualties from Camp Mystic the century-old all-girls Christian summer camp where at least people were killed They were there because they loved God And as we grieve this unthinkable tragedy we take comfort in the knowledge that God has welcomed those little beautiful girls into his comforting arms in heaven Trump mentioned The first lady described meeting beautiful young ladies from the area who she announced gave her a special bracelet from the camp in honor of all the little girls that lost their lives She promised to return to promotion the camp in the future Trump approved Texas request to extend the major accident declaration beyond Kerr County to eight additional counties making them eligible for direct financial assistance to recover and rebuild All across the country Americans hearts are shattered he commented I had to be here as president Despite saying that he didn t want to talk politics Trump couldn t help himself During the roundtable he bragged briefly about his administration reducing the cost of eggs around the country and in a response to a question about Democratic criticisms of the flood response disclosed All they want to do is criticize They re getting just absolutely clobbered cause everyone sees what an incredible job the governor did Trump stated of Democrats Everybody in this room everybody at this table in particular In praise of FEMA He also still insisted we ve got certain good people running FEMA That is nonetheless a far cry from his call mere weeks ago to begin phasing out FEMA At the White House Russell Vought director of the Office of Management and Budget similarly dodged questions Friday about FEMA s future He mentioned that the agency has billions of dollars in reserves to continue to pay for necessary expenses We also want FEMA to be reformed Vought explained The president is going to continue to be asking tough questions of all of us agencies no different than any other opportunity to have better governing body On the ground in devastated communities meanwhile specific state and local leaders have faced questions about how well they were prepared and how fleetly they acted including if warning systems might have given more people time to evacuate Inquired about such concerns during his appearance at the operations center in Kerrville Trump called a reporter evil and commented he thought everyone did an incredible job under the circumstances I admire you and I consider you heroes Trump declared of the personnel around him He also praised a long list of Texas Republicans and had especially kind words for Rep Chip Roy who represents chosen of the hardest-hit areas A staunch conservative Roy initially opposed Trump s sweeping tax-cut and spending package but ultimately supported it He s not easy but he s good Trump announced of Roy The congressman for his part bristled at questions about administration flood response calling the queries about inadequate flood warnings ridiculous Seeing the damage close-up Prior to the roundtable Air Force One landed in San Antonio and Trump deplaned in a suit while the first lady wore more casual clothing though both wore ball caps against the heat The Trumps then boarded a helicopter to Kerrville and saw the flooding aftermath from the air They later walked close to the Guadalupe River to receive a briefing from agents near an overturned tractor trailer numerous downed trees and other debris Roads in the center of town were shut down and people lined the streets certain wearing Trump hats and T-shirts and waving American flags Green ribbons recognizing the lives lost at Camp Mystic were tied around trees poles and along bridges and marquees featured slogans such as Hill Country Strong and Thank you first responders Harris Currie a rancher from Utopia Texas near Kerrville disclosed the flood devastation can be fully understood only by seeing it firsthand Pictures do not do it justice Currie declared Demanded what authorities on the ground needed majority of urgently from federal sources Kerr County Commissioner Jeff Holt who also is a volunteer firefighter stressed the need for repairs to nonworking phone towers and maybe a little better early warning system Trump himself has suggested that a major warning system should be established though insufficient details have been offered on what that might eventually entail Friday s visit was far different from the other times the first couple visited natural catastrophe sites during Trump s first weekend back in the White House in January They toured North Carolina to scope out damage from Hurricane Helene and saw the aftermath of wildfires in Los Angeles and the president sharply criticized the administration of his predecessor President Joe Biden and personnel from deep-blue California The state of Texas No they do it right and they ve done it right for a long time Trump reported And it s a very special place to me Weissert released from Washington