Trump followed the script on disasters, so why is no one giving him any credit?

What exactly has Donald Trump done wrong now? Given the dim coverage from major media outlets and the Twitter punditry, a casual observer might be forgiven for believing that he’d made yet another abrupt departure from presidential protocol in his response to Hurricane Harvey.

But after a difficult summer, Trump appears for once to have followed the script, afraid of stumbling into a repeat of George W Bush’s calamitous performance in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Trump’s only break with tradition came via his decision to donate a million dollars of his personal money to relief efforts. Such generosity should be applauded.

Doing nothing was not an option; raising awareness of evacuation measures before the storm and making an unobtrusive visit to an unflooded area afterwards were precisely what a president should do.

He’s not been especially emotive, avoiding photo-ops with the victims; nor does he seem keen to use this as an opportunity to launch a national conversation about the effects of climate change.

Anyone disappointed by the former has an odd definition of leadership in times of crisis, and anyone expecting the latter should also be made aware that the tooth fairy isn’t real.

Why, then, if Trump has actually done OK here, is no one giving him any credit? The reality is that presidents have very little to do with natural disasters. Congress and the relevant governor shoulder most of the responsibility. As long as state and local governments are proactive in responding, and FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) is well-prepared, there is little role for the office of the president in the immediate aftermath of a disaster.

Furthermore, Americans, especially in deeply conservative Texas, do not see Washington as a source of salvation.

Possibly as a hangover from our colonial days, the federal government is viewed with scepticism and the presidency is not seen as a heroic role.

Some (notably John F Kennedy and Barack Obama) may have become heroes by breaking religious and racial barriers to ascend to this highest echelon of political life, but the office itself carries precious little glory.

Nevertheless, in a country prone to storms, earthquakes, tornadoes, wildfires, and the occasional mudslide, a cottage industry dedicated to commenting on a president’s response to natural disasters is very much in existence – which is what makes the rhetoric all the more important.

Trump was a little too overtly impressed with the sheer scale of the storm – and its corresponding ability to rehabilitate his image – for his displays of sympathy to seem totally credible.

The president has been frustrated with his administration’s lack of progress in “making America great again”. To many in the commentariat, his appearance in Texas looked like an opportunistic grab for white knight status. There is nothing to win with a hurricane. At best, one can hope that in several years’ time, a large swathe of Texas will look roughly like it did before the storm hit.

There is nothing the federal government can do in this situation which will allow it to declare victory; the major task right now is doling out massive amounts of disaster relief (current estimates hover around $150billion). This is a legitimate use of taxpayer funds, not a cause of celebration.

Any attempt by the president to claim some sort of credit for this process – “I think that you’re going to see very rapid action from Congress, certainly from the president. And you’re going to get your funding”, he said – is deeply misguided, especially in contrast to the genuine heroism of first responders and private citizens who have risked their lives to save neighbours and total strangers.

Photos, videos, and first-hand accounts of this heroism have poured in over the past week. The makeshift Cajun navy drove over from Louisiana to help with search and rescue efforts; virtually anything that floats has been used to save lives. People around the country are giving blood, food, and clothes. Tens of millions of dollars have already been donated.

Americans tend to be proud of the fact that we always rise to such occasions.

Donald Trump would do well to remember that federal government was never what made America great in the first place – but the commentariat needs to stop knocking him down for doing a pretty good job on something that isn’t really his responsibility anyway.

‘The reality is that presidents have very little to do with natural disasters… Congress and the relevant governor shoulder most of the responsibility’