President Trump, first lady head to visit Kerrville, Texas following fatal floods
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump departed to visit Kerrville Texas Friday following massive floods in the region that have taken the lives of more than people The Trumps are expected to meet with local administrators and first responders who are navigating the aftermath of flash floods that devastated the Central Texas population after the Guadalupe River surged more than feet in just a matter of hours Among those who died in the flooding were at least campers and counselors from Camp Mystic a Christian summer camp founded nearly years ago for girls Meanwhile more than people are missing and unaccounted for in Kerry County Texas following the floods according to officers The White House disclosed Monday that Trump would visit the flood site to witness the devastation I'll be going down on Friday with the first lady and we will be taking a trip Trump noted Tuesday at a Cabinet meeting And we don't want to get in anyone's way because you know it's what happens The president goes and everyone's around focused I don't want anyone to focus on us but it's accomplishable they could have EX-BIDEN OFFICIAL SCOLDS TRUMP ON CONTEXT CHANGE AFTER TEXAS FLOODSThe Trump administration has faced scrutiny from Democrats for its response to the tragedy particularly for a new approach that Secretary of Homeland Precaution Kristi Noem approved in June before the floods that requires her to sign off on any department expenses including disaster-related expenses that are more than Noem reportedly waited more than hours after the flooding started before she approved the deployment of the Federal Crisis Management Agency s FEMA Urban Search and Rescue teams according to CNN Meanwhile Noem dismissed the report's credibility during a segment on Fox Friends on Thursday claiming the overview was fake news The Department of Homeland Guard DHS which oversees FEMA explained Fox News Digital that the agency has taken an all-hands-on-deck approach in responding to the situation when questioned about the CNN summary The old processes are being replaced because they failed Americans in real emergencies for decades DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin explained in a report to Fox News Digital Trump also defended his administration s response and disclosed at the White House during a Tuesday Cabinet meeting that you had people there as fast as anybody s ever seen Still the calamity creates uncertainty about the future of FEMA since Trump has called for massive reforms to the agency WHITE HOUSE BLASTS SCHUMER DEMOCRATS FOR 'DEPRAVED LIE' BLAMING TRUMP FOR TEXAS FLASH FLOODTrump declared in June that he longed to wean off of FEMA and we want to bring it back to the state level White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that the future of FEMA is an ongoing discussion when inquired whether the flood had prompted Trump to re-evaluate his position on overhauling FEMA The president wants to ensure American citizens unfailingly have what they need during times of need Leavitt communicated reporterson Monday Whether that assistance comes from states or the federal administration that s a strategy discussion that will continue And the president has dependably announced he wants states to do as much as they can if not more OBAMA BROS BALK AT FAR-LEFT SAYING TEXANS BROUGHT FLOOD CATASTROPHE ON THEMSELVES BY SUPPORTING TRUMPMeanwhile Noem lauded FEMA s efforts responding to the tragedy during the Cabinet meeting even as specific lawmakers like Rep Jared Moscowitz D-Fla have called for an review into reports of a delayed FEMA response FEMA has been deployed and we re cutting through the paperwork of the old FEMA streamlining it much like your vision of how FEMA should operate Noem commented It s been a much better response to help these families get through this terrible situation
