President Donald Trump travels to Texas on Friday amid growing questions about how local officials responded to the devastating floods, as well as questions about the federal response — including the fate of the Federal Emergency Management Agency — that he has so far avoided.
Trump’s 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.
He and first lady Melania Trump are visiting flood-affected areas, according to a statement from the first lady’s office. The two left the White House on Friday morning, with the president stopping to take some questions from reporters.
“It’s a horrible thing. A horrible thing. Nobody can even believe it,” Trump said of the catastrophic flash flooding.
“But we’re going to be there with some of the great families and others, the governor, everybody,” he added.
Donald Trump speaks to the press before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, on July 11, 2025.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images
The search for more than 170 people still missing continues with more than 2,100 responders on the ground in Kerr County from local, state and federal agencies.
Meanwhile, local officials are under scrutiny about what steps were taken to adequately warn people and how long it took for authorities to take action based on escalating weather and other alerts.
Trump, notably, hasn’t engaged in similar criticism about how the crisis was handled — as he has done in the case of other disasters.
“I would just say this is a hundred-year catastrophe, and it’s just so horrible to watch,” Trump said on Sunday.
Donald Trump and Melania Trump walk to Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, on July 11, 2025.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images
Instead, Trump has largely focused on his relationship with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott — a Republican and strong ally of the president.
“We’ve been in touch with Gov. Abbott, I’m very close to Gov. Abbott, and everybody in Texas,” Trump said on Sunday.
It’s a marked contrast to how Trump has reacted in the past, including to the California wildfires earlier this year, where he blasted California’s Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom and other local Democratic officials.
Some of the hardest-hit areas of central Texas, including Kerr County, are areas of strong Republican support that voted for Trump in the 2024 election.
Trump approved a major disaster declaration for Texas earlier this week.
Abbott said during a news conference on Tuesday that he spoke with Trump that morning and received assurances that assistance would be provided.
“He could not stop talking about how sad he was for all the little girls who have lost their lives,” Abbott said. “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 continued.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott speaks during a press conference, July 8, 2025, after touring damage from flash flooding in Hunt, Texas.
Eli Hartman/AP
The White House has pushed back heavily on criticism of the administration’s cuts to the National Weather Service, which led to some to question if staffing levels or forecasting abilities were impacted.
“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 from the briefing room podium on Monday.
Trump’s also avoided answering questions on whether he is still aiming to phase out FEMA.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, discussed the federal response to the floods during a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
“We as a federal government don’t manage these disasters, the state does,” Noem contended. “We come in and support them. And that’s exactly what we did here in this situation. FEMA went to an enhanced level immediately. But as soon as you signed the major disaster declaration, we were able to get them resources and dollars right away, just like you envisioned through state lot grants to help them with cleanup. And we’re still there in presence.”
A vehicle drives through a road flooded by the waters of the Guadalupe River, in Hunt, Texas, July 9, 2025.
Umit Bektas/Reuters
Later in the week, though, Noem went after FEMA during the Biden and other previous administrations — alleging the agency has suffered from “gross mismanagement and negligence.”
“The list of famous failures is staggering,” Noem claimed in comments to the FEMA Advisory Council, a task force designed to recommend reforms to the agency, including possible dismantlement of the agency as it exists today. Trump appointed Abbott as a new member to the group back in April.
Acting FEMA Administrator David Richardson had yet to visit the affected areas in Texas as of Thursday afternoon.
ABC News’ Luke Barr and Kelsey Walsh contributed to this report.
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