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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 saw on television,” he said.
Trump’s budget adviser Russell Vought said Friday that FEMA has $13 billion in reserves to “pay for the necessary expenses.”
However, Vought said the administration continues to “want FEMA to be reformed.”
“We want FEMA to work well…the president is going to continue to be asking tough questions of all of his agencies,” Vought said.
Democrats are also questioning why the flood alert system did not lead to swift evacuations, with some saying sweeping government cutbacks are to blame.
“We need a full account of the ways in which the Trump administration’s recent actions have undermined the federal response, both before and after this catastrophe,” Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) said in a statement. “Learning from these failures and recognizing that weather intensification driven by climate change increasingly endangers lives will help prevent more tragedies.”
The Trump administration has accused Democrats of politicizing the tragedy, with DHS saying the alert system worked as intended and that all National Weather Service outposts were fully staffed at the time.
In the NBC interview, Trump called for an alarm system to be installed to warn against future floods.
TEXAS POLITICS
The Lone Star State is also at the center of some brutal political battles.
Polls have shown state Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) with a wide lead over Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) in the Senate GOP primary.
Some Texas Republicans fear Paxton will be a disastrous general election candidate, potentially putting the state in play for Democrats.
On Thursday, news broke that Paxton’s wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton (R), had filed for divorce. The filing accuses her husband of adultery and says they have been living separately for more than a year.
The GOP’s Senate campaign arm, which defends incumbents, released a blistering statement on the matter:
“What Ken Paxton has put his family through is truly repulsive and disgusting,” National Republican Senatorial Committee spokesperson Joanna Rodriguez said. “No one should have to endure what Angela Paxton has, and we pray for her as she chooses to stand up for herself and her family during this difficult time.”
Paxton had previously been impeached and accused of corruption.
Trump has not endorsed in the primary race, although Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said he discussed it with Trump at a meeting this week.
Texas could also be major battleground in the fight over the House majority.
Abbott announced that redistricting will be included in a legislative special session slated to take place later this month, even though Texas is not due to draw new House lines until after the 2030 census.
New maps could boost some GOP candidates as the party seeks to defend its narrow majority in the midterm elections, which are historically difficult for the party in power.
💡Perspectives:
•Washington Monthly: Dems should prepare for the return of debt politics.
The State Department is carrying out plans to lay off 1,300 employees as part of a major overhaul.
The Justice Department is pushing back on reports of a gap between Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI leadership over the handling of files pertaining to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
A federal appeals courtthrew out a plea agreement that would have allowed Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, accused of spearheading the 9/11 attacks, to plead guilty in exchange for escaping the federal death penalty.
Former President Obama will host a fundraiser with Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin in New Jersey this evening, Axios reports.
The event marks Obama’s first public fundraising appearance since Democrats suffered sweeping losses in the 2024 election.
The Hill’s Amie Parnesobtained a new poll conducted by the Democratic super PAC “Unite the Country,” which found most voters view the Democratic Party as “out of touch,”“woke” and “weak.”
The party’s approval ratings sit below 35 percent with white men, Hispanic men and working class voters.
“This is the reality of the perception of us as a party, and until we accept that, it’s going to be hard to move forward,” said Democratic strategist Rodell Mollineau, who serves as senior adviser to the super PAC. “There’s a perception out there, outside of Democratic elites, and it’s taken hold in not just the MAGA crowd but people that should be with us.”
Some Democrats have criticized their party’s sharp leftward turn, underscored by the nomination of self-described democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani to be mayor of New York City.
Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) told Fox News he doesn’t “agree with virtually any” of Mamdani’s political positions.
“I mean, so he’s not even a Democrat, honestly,” Fetterman said.
Fetterman, who was embraced by the party’s progressive wing before becoming an outspoken critic of the left, also bashed liberal activists that have raged against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers.
“ICE performs an important job for our country,” he wrote on X. “Any calls to abolish ICE are [100 percent] inappropriate and outrageous.”
MEANWHILE…
The Trump administration is leaning full tilt into the culture wars.
• The Department of Justice (DOJ) opened an investigation into Minnesota to determine if the state has engaged in race and sex-based discrimination in its hiring practices.
• The DOJ subpoenaed patient details from hospitals and doctors that have provided gender-related treatment to minors.
• The Trump administration is ramping up its war with Harvard University after previously hinting that a deal was imminent.
•President Trump is warning GOP lawmakers they’ll face consequences if they vote against a rescissions package clawing back more than $9 billion in funding for public media and foreign aid, including money for PBS and NPR.
“Any Republican that votes to allow this monstrosity to continue broadcasting will not have my support or Endorsement,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
Senate Republicans face a July 18 deadline to pass the rescissions package or it will lapse.
💡Perspectives:
•The New Republic: What if the political pendulum doesn’t swing back.
NewsNation’s “The Hill Sunday”: Reps. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) and Suhas Subramanyam (D-Va.).
Fox’s “Fox News Sunday”: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem; Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.); Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas).
NBC “Meet the Press”: Noem; Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.); Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D).
CNN’s “State of the Union”: Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.); Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas).
CBS’s “Face the Nation”: Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.); Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.); Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.); Rep. French Hill (R-Ark.).
President Trump said Friday he won’t fire Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, even as he blasted the central bank chief for refusing to lower interest rates.
Ahead of his visit to Texas, Trump was asked by a reporter if he’d fire Powell, whose term is up in a year.
“No,” Trump responded.
“I think he’s doing a terrible job,” he continued. “I think we should be 3 points lower, interest rates. He’s costing our country a lot of money. We should be number one, and we’re not and that’s because of Jerome Powell.”
Powell has refused to lower interest rates, saying Trump’s tariffs will lead to a spike in inflation, although so far consumer prices have remained steady.
Trump on Friday hit Canada with new 35 percent tariffs. He said in an interview with NBC that he’s preparing blanket tariffs of 15 to 20 percent for most U.S. trade partners.
“If you look at the numbers, inflation’s gone down,” Trump told the network.
The Trump administration has been crusading against Powell, most recently seizing on a $2.5 billion renovation to the Fed’s Washington headquarters.
Trump’s budget adviser Russell Vought on Friday likened the renovation to the “Palace of Versailles.”
“This is approaching that level,” he said.
“It probably would qualify as one of the eighth wonders of the ancient world if you were able to go back that far,” he added.
ELSEWHERE…
Trump said the U.S. struck a deal with NATO to buy weapons to send to Ukraine, the latest sign of the president’s frustration with Moscow.
“We send weapons to NATO, and NATO is going to reimburse the full cost of those weapons,” Trump told NBC.
Russia has continued to bombard Ukraine, escalating its drone and missile strikes after Trump lashed out at Russian President Vladimir Putin this week for continuing the onslaught.
Trump was asked by reporters about Russian drone strikes that damaged a maternity hospital.
“I know,” Trump responded. “You’ll be seeing things happen.”
Senate Republicans are preparing to move on a bipartisan bill to slap economic sanctions on Russia and its trade partners. The bill would give Trump broad authority to implement the sanctions.
“They’re going to pass a very major and very biting sanctions bill, but it’s up to the president as to whether or not he wants to exercise it,” Trump told NBC.
