President Donald Trump is expected to tour areas struck by the Texas flash floods on Friday as the state comes to terms with a natural disaster that has left hundreds dead and missing.
Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott has repeatedly praised the Trump administration for its response to the tragedy this week, despite the White House having made severe cutbacks to climate and weather agencies, and even as Trump officials continue to argue for the elimination of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The relationship between Abbott and Trump is contrasted to that between the president and California Governor Gavin Newsom, who met Trump in January following devastating wildfires in the Golden State. Trump and Newsom argued over water access during the blaze that destroyed thousands of structures and caused a dozen fatalities.
Those critical of the president argue that Trump’s handling of the two disasters reveals how he appears to politicize events depending on their location.
Jeremy Edwards, who served as a spokesperson for FEMA and the Biden White House, said he thinks if the floods had occurred under a Democratic administration, Trump’s response would have been different.
“I find it very hard to imagine that if this exact situation were to happen in a blue state with a Democratic governor, he would not immediately lambast them for steps that they did or didn’t take with regards to emergency alerts,” said Edwards, according to The Hill.
“I think this is going to be the same thing he does with the economy. When the economy is bad, it’s Biden’s economy. When the economy is good, it’s Trump’s economy,” he added. “And I think, if the response and recovery goes well — and I hope it does — it’s Trump’s FEMA, but if the response goes badly, it’s Biden’s FEMA.”
Michael Coen served as chief of staff at FEMA during the Obama and Biden administrations.
“What I’d seen during the Obama administration and the Biden administration is presidents working with governors, regardless of party, to support the impacted community, whether it was in Florida with Biden and Gov. DeSantis working side by side following the Surfside building collapse, Hurricane Ian, Hurricane Milton … putting politics aside,” Coen said.
“Until this administration, I really haven’t seen emergency management being politicized the way it is,” he added.
Abbott is set to accompany Trump in Texas as the president meets with first responders and receives a briefing from local officials. He will also meet with family members affected by the floods.
Newsom greeted Trump at the airport when the president visited the state just after taking office. However, just before the trip, Trump issued a threat to withhold federal aid because of concerns regarding California’s water management.
In Texas, other issues are arising, such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which includes the National Weather Service, which eliminated hundreds of employees earlier this year. The warning meteorologist at the NWS office for Austin and San Antonio, which covers Kerr County, which was hardest hit by the floods, took a buyout in April, organized by the Trump administration.
Kristi Noem, the Secretary of Homeland Security, is also set to join Trump in Texas. She initially visited the area on Saturday. She said this week that FEMA should be “remade” amid its response to the floods. Both the secretary and the president have argued that the states should handle disaster responses.
“We, as a federal government, don’t manage these disasters. The state does. We come in and support them, and that’s exactly what we did here in this situation,” said Noem.
FEMA has been in the sights of Republicans since Hurricane Helene struck North Carolina last year. Rumors began to be spread suggesting the agency was avoiding helping red-leaning areas and Republican households. The theories, at times, hindered the Biden administration's aid efforts.
A former Bush administration official said, “Disaster politics are always tricky, but this tragedy is amid the backdrop of DOGE and the administration’s broader efforts to reduce the federal role in disaster response,” according to The Hill.
“The president and the governor get along well and are very simpatico on immigration, but these situations normally receive a level of empathy that this president does not like to display,” the ex-official added.
During a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Trump praised Abbott.
“The relationship with Texas and the governor has been obviously very good for years, with me,” he said. “The response has been incredible, and the fact that we got along so well, I don’t even think that’s a political thing, but we got along so well, and it was so unified. I think a lot of lives have been saved.”
