Trump Expected to Avoid Houston During Texas Visit on Tuesday

Trump Expected to Avoid Houston During Texas Visit on Tuesday

President Donald Trump is heading to Texas on Tuesday to display the federal government's support for areas hit by Hurricane Harvey, but Houston, which is underwater and is expecting even more rain, won’t be on his itinerary.

Trump "will not be coming to the Houston area, which is the most, still danger-prone area," Texas Gov. Greg Abbott told Fox News Channel Monday.

"Instead, it will be closer to where the hurricane came across shore, which is closer to the Corpus Christi or San Antonio area," Abbott said in response to questions about whether, with up to two more feet of rain still expected in the Houston area, it would be a good time for the president to visit.

 First Lady Melania Trump will accompany her husband on the visit, her communications director tweeted Monday.

The White House has not yet announced the president's itinerary.

In planning the trip, Trump faces the challenge of displaying his support and easing the region’s recovery — but without getting in the way of local officials who are both leading recuperation efforts and preparing for more bad weather.

That test is no small feat for a president who loves the spotlight.

Trump indicated on Sunday he understood some of the obstacles, tweeting that he would visit the state "as soon as that trip can be made without causing disruption," adding that "the focus must be life and safety."

Ahead of the visit, Trump and vice president Mike Pence were taking actions from Washington, D.C.. to help the region.

Trump approved Louisiana's request for a federal emergency declaration Monday morning, while Pence, in an interview with Houston radio station KTRH, reassured the people of Texas that Americans are with them and will be there to help rebuild.

A visit by Trump could create a logistical nightmare, even if it took place away from storm-hit Houston, with state and federal officials needing to devote all their attention to the submerged metropolis, where 20 more inches of rain were expected.

In addition, Harvey, now a tropical storm with winds about 30 to 40 mph, could also come back and hit land again, creating more headaches.

The storm is currently about 15 miles off the middle of the Texas coast and is slowly moving back toward coastal waters. It is expected to remain offshore through Tuesday before resurging in the Gulf of Mexico and turning back north toward southeast Texas on Wednesday.

How Trump handles the aftermath of Harvey — the first natural disaster he's faced in the Oval Office — could have lasting impact on his popularity and on the public’s perception of the president's competence.

His two predecessors faced very different outcomes in their immediate responses to hurricanes.

George W. Bush, whose bungled and slow response to Hurricane Katrina is cited by historians as one of the most worst presidential responses to a natural disaster, was in Air Force One when he first surveyed the wreckage of the 2005 superstorm four days after it hit the Gulf Coast.

Bush, who’d been on vacation at his ranch in Crawford, Tex., was returning to Washington in Air Force One, which flew low over the Gulf Coast so he could see the devastation. The photos of a somber-looking Bush in his plane, however, backfired, creating the perception almost immediately that he was distant and detached from the horror on the ground.

With Hurricane Sandy in 2012, Barack Obama embarked on a helicopter inspection over New Jersey on Oct. 31, two days after the storm hit, and was greeted enthusiastically by Republican Gov. Chris Christie.

Obama also took an aerial tour of Queens, Staten Island and other areas hit in New York two weeks later on Nov. 15.

Trump, for his part, faces the added challenge of getting lawmakers to greenlight billions of dollars for the recovery in Texas, due to the skirmishes resulting from a Sept. 30 deadline to continue funding the federal government.

Trump last week threatened to let the federal government shut down if he doesn’t get his long-promised border wall funded.

Source: CBNNews.com

Trump Calls Removal Of Confederate Monuments 'So Foolish'

Bridgewater, New Jersey (CNN)President Donald Trump on Thursday denounced the removal of monuments to Confederate figures as "sad" and "so foolish," days after white supremacists and neo-Nazis took to Charlottesville, Virginia, to violently protest the planned removal of a statue of the Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.

"Sad to see the history and culture of our great country being ripped apart with the removal of our beautiful statues and monuments," Trump said in a series of tweets. "You can't change history, but you can learn from it."

Trump's tweets came as he continued to face criticism for comments he made on Tuesday in which he blamed "both sides" of the Charlottesville protests -- the white supremacists and those protesting against them -- for the violence that took hold of that small Virginia city. While Trump condemned the neo-Nazi and white supremacists who protested, he insisted there were "very fine people" among those protesting the removal of Lee's statue in Charlottesville.

Echoing his comments on Tuesday, Trump tweeted Thursday that the removal of Confederate statues could lead to the removal of monuments to the US's founding fathers.

"Robert E Lee, Stonewall Jackson - who's next, Washington, Jefferson? So foolish!" Trump tweeted. "Also the beauty that is being taken out of our cities, towns and parks will be greatly missed and never able to be comparably replaced!"

Trump's decision to side with those opposed to removing Confederate monuments -- even days after white supremacists and neo-Nazis protested the same cause -- signaled that he was increasingly confident that he had reacted appropriately in a way that would bolster his standing with his core supporters.The President has faced sagging approval ratings for months, but has maintained fervent support among his political base.

Trump fired back against some of those criticizing him Thursday morning, lashing out against the news media and Sen. Lindsey Graham, the Republican from South Carolina who slammed Trump for expressing a "moral equivalency" between the white supremacists and those who took to the streets to counter their racist, anti-Semitic rally.

Trump rebuked Graham for what he termed a "disgusting lie" and forcefully reminded Graham that he had solidly defeated him in the South Carolina Republican primary 18 months earlier.

In his tweet slamming the news media, Trump argued the media "totally misrepresent what I say about hate, bigotry etc."

Trump's rejection of the removal of Confederate monuments also came just a few hours after a CBS News poll showed that while a majority of Americans disapproved of Trump's response to the violence in Charlottesville, two-thirds of Republicans approved of his response. The poll, however, was conducted in part before Trump's impromptu news conference on Tuesday.

Source: CCN