Presidential visit
The president attended five events in two states during four-hour trek
President Trump makes one-day trip to view situation in Louisiana and Texas
LAKE CHARLES, La. — President Donald Trump traveled to the storm-ravaged Gulf Coast on Saturday to assess the damage from Hurricane Laura and to promise federal support for the region while also using the trip to try to show empathy toward those dealing with a disaster after two weeks of political conventions that focused on questions about his character.
Trump toured damage in Louisiana alongside local officials, including Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, and Republicans from the state’s congressional delegation, before heading to Orange, Texas, just across the border, where he was greeted by Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican.
“I’m here to support the great people of Louisiana. It’s been a great state for me,” Trump said.
“Our hearts go out to families who lost loved ones,” Trump said during a briefing here.
Trump mostly kept to listening to and interacting with local leaders, while avoiding the type of overt political attacks he often makes during public appearances, including the night before in New Hampshire.
Trump crammed in five events in two states despite being on the ground for about four hours, a whirlwind tour that did not appear to include many ordinary residents. He visited a warehouse distribution center here, observed National Guard members clearing downed trees in a neighborhood, held a roundtable briefing with federal and local officials in a firehouse and gave a short pep talk to dozens of Guard members at a nearby stadium — making sure to pose for news photos with them while giving two thumbs up.
The president then flew on Marine One to Orange, Texas, for another briefing. He thanked first responders there and said they “don’t get respect they should get, but actually they do because people love them.”
Trump several times marveled at the size of the storm.
“Katrina seems to be the standard,” he said, referring to the 2005 hurricane that devastated parts of the state. “You come from Louisiana or Fifth Avenue, New York, you know about Katrina.”
Edwards emphasized that Hurricane Laura was punishing in a different way than Katrina, noting that most of the damage from the 2005 storm came after levees in New Orleans were breached. By comparison, he said, Laura hit head-on.
Trump, dressed in a black windbreaker and a baseball cap emblazoned with TRUMP and 45, appeared in good spirits. He joked with officials in Louisiana and passed out ceremonial pens.