WASHINGTON _ President Donald Trump plans to visit areas of Texas affected by Hurricane Harvey early next week, Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Texas, said after Vice President Mike Pence told him of the president's plans in a phone call with the Corpus Christi congressman Saturday afternoon.
Pence "said that he and the Trump administration are committed to providing all the resources necessary for the area and as soon as weather permits, most likely early next week, Trump plans on visiting the area," Farenthold said. "He stated over and over again, 'we're looking at the whole of government response and we're going to do what needs to be done.'"
Farenthold said he asked Pence if he "could ride along" with Trump, and the vice president expressed that "they would work on it."
"I might be of a little bit of value to the president because I grew up in this area and can provide some context," he added.
Farenthold expressed approval of how Trump had handled the situation of responding to a major disaster. "From a congressional and political standpoint, the White House was very quick to declare disaster areas for several counties, and that list of counties is growing rapidly," he said.
