President Donald Trump called the Texas floods a ‘terrible thing’ as he left to visit the devastated state with First Lady Melania Trump.
‘It’s a terrible thing, but we’re going to be there with some of the great families and others, the governor, everybody,’ he told reporters on the South Lawn as he left the White House.
The first lady is traveling with him. She was casually dressed in jeans, sneakers and a light jacket. Trump wore a blue suit and white shirt but no tie.
The couple were affection as they boarded Marine One. The president put his arm around his wife as they walked across the lawn.
The Trumps will spend the weekend together.
From Texas they head to Bedminster, N.J., and the Trump National Golf Club there. On Sunday, they’ll quietly mark the one-year anniversary of the assassination attempt on Trump in Butler, Pa.
The Trump family will be together in the morning and, that afternoon, Melania Trump will accompany the president to MetLife Stadium in New Jersey to watch the Club World Cup Final match.
But, first they’ll mark a somber Friday in Texas.
Their visit comes a week after heavy rainfall caused the Guadalupe River in Kerr County to rise 26 feet in less than an hour, killing at least 121, including dozens of children at the nearby Christian summer camp, Camp Mystic.
On the ground in Kerrville, the first couple will tour flood-affected areas, meet with family members of victims and be briefed on recovery efforts. They’ll also thank rescue workers.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott will join the Trumps on the trip.
Texas Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn are traveling with the Trumps on Air Force One.
Meanwhile, the death toll continues to rise, with more than 160 people still missing.
Trump approved a major disaster declaration for Texas earlier this week.
The president, unlike in other disasters, has not cast blame on anyone for the tragedy, calling it a horrible accident.
‘I would just say this is a hundred-year catastrophe, and it’s just so horrible to watch,’ the president said on Sunday.
It was a marked difference from his comments on California and the devastating wildfires in that state. Trump was loud and vocal in his criticism of Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Some of the hardest-hit areas of central Texas are places of strong Republican support that voted for Trump in the 2024 election.
The White House also has pushed back at criticism that FEMA and the National Weather Service was understaffed, making early warning efforts more difficult.
‘Blaming President Trump for these floods is a depraved lie, and it serves no purpose during this time of national mourning,’ White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at her briefing on Monday.
And, in a Cabinet meeting this week, Trump praised Noem for her department’s handling of the response.
The Department of Homeland Security oversees the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
‘You had people there as fast as anybody’s ever seen,’ the president told Noem.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican and close ally of the president, said Trump was sadden by the event, particularly over the loss of the children.
‘He could not stop talking about how sad he was for all the little girls who have lost their lives,’ said Abbott, who has spoken with Trump repeatedly. ‘He recounted his own understanding of what happened with what was really a tsunami wave, a wall of water, that swept too many of them away.’
‘And he cares a lot about those young ladies. And he wants to step up and make sure that any need that we have here in Texas is going to be met very quickly,’ Abbott added.
