• Trump offers optimism in visit to Texas.
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — President Donald Trump on Tuesday assured Texans slammed by Tropical Storm Harvey that “we are here to take care of you” and promised a “better than ever before” relief effort, as he visited the state while rescuers continued to pull people from submerged homes.
During visits first to Corpus Christi on the Gulf Coast, southwest of the worst-hit areas of Houston and its environs, and then to the state capital of Austin, Trump repeatedly praised federal, state and local officials. But he said little about victims who had lost their homes and loved ones to the historic storm.
“The world is watching and the world is very impressed with what you are doing,” Trump told officials at the Texas Department of Public Safety operations center in Austin who were coordinating rescue and shelter operations as rain continued to fall and water continued to swell in flood zones.
Perhaps more welcome than praise was the president’s promise of unspecified federal aid. “We are working with Congress on helping out the state of Texas; it’s going to be a costly proposition,” Trump said, nodding at Texas’ two U.S. senators and several House members, all Republicans, who joined him.
“Probably there’s never been anything so expensive in our country’s history,” he added.
Though aid is all but certain, getting significant relief through Congress will be complicated. Lawmakers not only have a packed and troublesome legislative agenda in September, but also members of both parties harbor resentments that Texas Republicans opposed past bills for disaster aid, notably after Hurricane Sandy tore up the East Coast five years ago.
Earlier in the day, the president anticipated success in the response effort even as rain and overflowing dams fed floodwaters to the east: “We won’t say congratulations. We don’t want to do that,” he said from a fire department in Annaville, near Corpus Christi, where he met with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and other officials.
“We’ll congratulate each other when it’s all finished,” he said.
Trump seemed mindful of not repeating the famous mistake of President George W. Bush, who enthused, “Brownie, you’re doing a heckuva job” to his Federal Emergency Management Agency director during Hurricane Katrina. Michael D. Brown led the botched response to that devastating storm that hit exactly 12 years ago.
Still, Trump, clad in a “USA” ball cap and a windbreaker with a presidential seal, did not shy from raising expectations for the response effort.
“We want to do it better than ever before,” he said. “We want to be looked at in five years, in 10 years from now, as this is the way to do it.”
Although Trump was careful to remain outside the worst of the state’s flooding areas, the short ride from the airport in Corpus Christi to the firehouse along Interstate 37 gave him a glimpse of what the state is up against.
He passed broken trees, downed signs and fences that had been hurled about. Still, hundreds of residents made their way outside to greet the president, some hoisting TrumpPence campaign signs and others protest placards.
Abbott, a Republican, praised Trump and his Cabinet members, several of whom accompanied him, saying the president and his advisers began preparing for the storm days before its arrival.
“They all had one thing to say,” Abbott said. “Texas, what do you need? How can we help?”
Trump spoke about the work of officials and the recovery efforts, leaving it to others to discuss the storm’s continuing risks and the loss of life — including the drowning death of veteran Houston Police Sgt. Steve Perez, who was to turn 61 this week.
When he left the firehouse, Trump mounted a ladder between two fire trucks to address the crowd outside.
“We love you, you are special; we are here to take care of you,” he said. “It’s going well.”
“What a crowd, what a turnout,” he said, as if speaking at a political rally. “It’s historic, it’s epic, but I tell you, it happened in Texas, and Texas can handle anything.”