Trump to Tour Texas Floods, FEMA Phase-Out Debate Rises/ Newslooks/ WASHINGTON/ J. Mansour/ Morning Edition/ President Trump plans to tour Texas flood devastation that has killed at least 120 people. His previous pledge to dismantle FEMA faces scrutiny as disaster relief efforts intensify. Political tensions grow over federal versus state emergency response roles.
Texas Floods Quick Looks
- Trump plans aerial tour of flood-ravaged Texas
- At least 120 dead, 170 still missing in floods
- Trump previously vowed to shutter FEMA operations
- Political stakes high as FEMA’s role faces questions
- Melania Trump joining president for disaster site tour
- Local officials also under scrutiny for preparedness
- Trump praised FEMA response despite downsizing goals
- Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem leads FEMA review council
Trump to Tour Texas Floods, FEMA Phase-Out Debate Rises
Deep Look
President Donald Trump is scheduled to travel to Texas on Friday to witness firsthand the catastrophic flooding that has devastated the state, claiming at least 120 lives and leaving more than 170 people missing. Yet as he prepares to stand amid the wreckage, the president’s earlier pledges to dismantle the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and shift disaster response entirely to state governments loom over the visit—and remain noticeably absent from his current public remarks.
The Trump administration has not officially backed away from its long-stated goal of phasing out FEMA, a policy popular among many in Trump’s base who favor reducing federal power and costs. However, since the deadly floods struck around the July 4 holiday, Trump and his team have emphasized the unprecedented nature of the disaster rather than pursuing their agenda of slashing government agencies.
“This is a once-in-every-200-year deal,” Trump told NBC News on Thursday, stressing the sheer unpredictability of the storm. He also indicated he was ready to travel to Texas almost immediately but held off so as not to impede emergency crews still searching for missing people.
Scenes of heartbreak are visible across Texas, including in Kerrville, where residents like Edgar Rojas and his family have gathered along the Guadalupe River to honor victims. Memorials have sprung up as communities grapple with the scale of the loss.
Trump’s pivot from government downsizing to disaster empathy underscores how severe tragedies can disrupt political strategies. Just months ago, Trump had made cutting the federal workforce and shrinking government power, even involving prominent figures like Elon Musk in his vision, central themes of his presidency’s opening months.
The president’s upcoming visit includes an aerial tour of the worst-hit zones and a stop at the Texas state emergency operations center. There, he plans to meet first responders, state officials, and families affected by the flooding. Joining him are Texas Republicans Governor Greg Abbott, Senator John Cornyn, and Senator Ted Cruz, who will accompany the president aboard Air Force One.
It’s a familiar presidential ritual: flying over disaster zones to assess damage without overwhelming ground operations. President Joe Biden followed a similar approach, surveying Hurricane Helene in North Carolina and Hurricane Milton in Florida last year from the air before meeting with victims on the ground.
Yet, Trump has a history of leveraging disaster tours for political attacks. Last year, as a presidential candidate, he visited North Carolina in the wake of Hurricane Helene and accused the Biden administration of withholding aid from Republican-leaning areas. As president, he’s continued using such moments to criticize Democratic opponents, even while addressing national emergencies.
First Lady Melania Trump will join the president on this trip, marking only the second time this term she has accompanied him to a natural disaster zone. Previously, she traveled with him to view Hurricane Helene damage in North Carolina and wildfires in California. Those earlier trips also turned political, as Trump used the opportunity to condemn what he characterized as mismanagement by the Biden administration and state officials.
Despite having repeatedly pledged—even as recently as June—to begin “phasing out” FEMA, Trump has softened his rhetoric since the floods began. At a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, he avoided mentioning the agency’s dismantling and instead praised the swift federal response. Turning to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who oversees FEMA, Trump said, “You had people there as fast as anybody’s ever seen.”
When reporters pressed White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt this week on whether Trump still planned to eliminate FEMA, she offered no definitive answer. “The president wants to ensure American citizens always have what they need during times of need,” she said. “Whether that assistance comes from states or the federal government, that is a policy discussion that will continue.”
Meanwhile, scrutiny has also fallen on local and state officials over whether they were adequately prepared or responded swiftly enough to the flooding. Residents like Darrin Potter of Kerr County, who suffered minor flooding in his home and lost friends in the disaster, expressed caution about second-guessing evacuation efforts. Potter noted that the roads that became rivers during the flood would have been death traps had large-scale evacuations been ordered earlier.
“If you would have evacuated at 5 in the morning, all of those people would have been washed away on this road,” he said.
Secretary Noem, who traveled to Texas to survey the devastation, shared deeply emotional scenes from the ground. At Camp Mystic, a century-old Christian summer camp for girls, at least 27 lives were lost. Noem recounted the anguish of parents recovering children’s belongings from the mud—stuffed animals, shoes, and other reminders of the lives abruptly cut short.
Noem also noted the administration’s ongoing efforts to review FEMA operations. She co-chairs a new FEMA review council tasked with suggesting how to streamline the agency, aligning it more closely with Trump’s vision of a leaner federal government.
“We as a federal government don’t manage these disasters. The state does,” Noem said during the Cabinet meeting. She added that her team is “cutting through the paperwork of the old FEMA” in pursuit of a more efficient, modern agency.
As Trump prepares to land in Texas, his visit serves both as a moment of compassion and as a test of the administration’s broader philosophy: whether America’s states are truly ready to handle such monumental crises alone—or whether FEMA remains indispensable in times of overwhelming disaster.
You must Register or Login to post a comment.