‘We are here to take care of you’
President Trump visits Corpus Christi, Texas, and promises a “better than ever before” relief effort.
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — President 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 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.
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.
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 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 was 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 Trump-Pence 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 advisors 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.
“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.”
The crowd cheered as Trump waved a Texas flag. But not everyone came to cheer.
“This is a blatant politicization of the hurricane efforts and everything that just happened to this community,” said Ben Falcon, 17, of Corpus Christi, holding an orange poster board reading “Love Trumps Hate.”
Others welcomed the president. Phillip Gonzalez sat in the open back of his black Humvee, an American flag propped on its roof, snapping pictures and watching Trump’s arrival through binoculars.
“This is pretty special to have the president fly in and show his support for the people who are hurting across Texas,” said Gonzalez, a retired oil industry employee who wore a camouflage hat with a neon orange “USA” on the front and “Trump” on the back. The sight of the president’s plane, he added, “sends chills down my spine.”
Congress has not outlined a plan to tackle the needs of Texas and Louisiana, the two states taking the brunt of Harvey, a hurricane downgraded to a tropical storm but dropping rain greater than any recorded in the continental U.S.
State and local officials are still responding to the immediate safety threat and have not begun to fully assess the long-term costs of the still-unfolding storm, which has turned large parts of Houston, the nation’s fourth-largest city, into a lake.
Though Trump avoided the hardest-hit areas, his visit ran the risk of stretching already-stressed resources, given the logistical and security requirements of a presidential visit.
In Corpus Christi and Austin, dozens of officials were on hand to meet with him.
Sensitive to that risk, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said during the flight from Washington, “The president wants to be very cautious about making sure that any activity doesn’t disrupt any of the recovery efforts that are still ongoing.”
Abbott has mobilized the Texas National Guard to help with rescue and relief efforts.
All but one of the Texas Republican lawmakers serving at the time, led by Sen. Ted Cruz, opposed a federal aid package in early 2013, months after Sandy hit New Jersey and other Northeastern states. But some Northeastern lawmakers have said they will not resist helping Texans in their time of need.
Congress has failed to gather majorities on some major issues this year. It is under deadline pressure to act on several must-pass bills next month, including action to keep the government running and separate legislation to prevent the country from defaulting on its debts.
‘It’s historic, it’s epic, but I tell you, it happened in Texas, and Texas can handle anything.’ — President Trump