President Donald Trump on Friday, July 11, toured the devastation from catastrophic flooding in Texas and lauded state and local officials, even amid mounting criticism that they may have failed to warn residents quickly enough that a deadly wall of water was coming their way.
"The search for the missing continues. The people that are doing it are unbelievable," Trump, seated with officials around a table emblazoned with a black-and-white "Texas Strong" banner, said at a makeshift emergency 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 4 disaster, which killed at least 129 people and left more than 170 missing, the president has been conspicuously silent on his past promises to shutter FEMA and return disaster response to the states.
"We just visited with incredible families. They've been devastated," the president said of a closed-door meeting he and first lady Melania Trump had with the relatives of some of those killed or missing. He spent a lot of time Friday discussing the victims from Camp Mystic, the century-old all-girls Christian summer camp where at least 27 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 said.
Trump approved Texas' request to extend the major disaster 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 said. "I had to be here as president."
Despite saying that he didn't want to talk politics, he spoke briefly during the round table about his administration reducing the cost of eggs around the country and, in response to a question about Democratic criticisms of the flood response, said, "All they want to do is criticize."
"They're getting just absolutely clobbered 'cause everyone sees what an incredible job the governor did," Trump said of Democrats. "Everybody in this room, everybody at this table in particular."
He also still insisted "we've got some 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 said that the agency has billions of dollars in reserves "to continue to pay for necessary expenses."
"We also want FEMA to be reformed," Vought said. "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 government."
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 officials 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, some 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."
Asked what officials on the ground needed most 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 few details have been offered on what that might eventually entail.