Trump tours Texas flood sites and defends officials as questions mount
about response
[July 12, 2025]
By SEAN MURPHY and WILL WEISSERT
KERRVILLE, Texas (AP) — President Donald Trump on Friday toured the
devastation from catastrophic flooding in Texas and lauded state and
local officials, even amid mounting criticism that they may have failed
to warn residents quickly enough that a deadly wall of water was coming
their way.
Trump has repeatedly promised to do away with the Federal Emergency
Management Agency as part of his larger pledges to dramatically shrink
the size of government, and he's fond of decrying officials in
Democrat-run states hit by past natural disasters and tragedy.
But the president struck a far more somber and sympathetic tone while
visiting America's most populous Republican state — highlighting the
heartbreak of what happened while effusively praising elected officials
and first responders alike.
“The search for the missing continues. The people that are doing it are
unbelievable,” Trump, seated with officials around a table with
emblazoned with a black-and-white “Texas Strong” banner, said at a
makeshift emergency operations center inside an expo hall in Kerrville.
He later added, “You couldn’t get better people, and they’re doing the
job like I don’t think anybody else could, frankly."
Since the July 4 disaster, which killed at least 129 people and left
more than 170 missing, the president has been conspicuously silent on
his past promises to shutter FEMA and return disaster response to the
states. Instead, he's focused on the once-in-a-lifetime nature of what
occurred in central Texas' Hill Country and its human toll.
“We just visited with incredible families. They’ve been devastated,” the
president said of a closed-door meeting he and first lady Melania Trump
had with the relatives of some of those killed or missing.
Honoring the victims
Trump’s shift in focus underscores how tragedy can complicate political
calculations, even though he has made slashing the federal workforce a
centerpiece of his administration’s opening months. He spent a lot of
time Friday discussing the victims from Camp Mystic, the century-old
all-girls Christian summer camp where at least 27 people were killed.
“They were there because they loved God. And, as we grieve this
unthinkable tragedy, we take comfort in the knowledge that God has
welcomed those little beautiful girls into his comforting arms in
heaven,” Trump said.
The first lady described meeting “beautiful young ladies” from the area
who she said gave her a “special bracelet from the camp in honor of all
the little girls that lost their lives.” She promised to return to
support the camp in the future.
Trump approved Texas’ request to extend the major disaster declaration
beyond Kerr County to eight additional counties, making them eligible
for direct financial assistance to recover and rebuild.
“All across the country Americans’ hearts are shattered," he said. “I
had to be here as president.”
Despite saying that he didn’t want to talk politics, Trump couldn’t help
himself. During the roundtable, he bragged briefly about his
administration reducing the cost of eggs around the country and, in a
response to a question about Democratic criticisms of the flood
response, said, “All they want to do is criticize.”
“They’re getting just absolutely clobbered 'cause everyone sees what an
incredible job the governor did," Trump said of Democrats. "Everybody in
this room, everybody at this table in particular.”
In praise of FEMA
He also still insisted “we’ve got some good people” running FEMA. That
is nonetheless a far cry from his call mere weeks ago to begin “phasing
out” FEMA.
At the White House, Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management
and Budget, similarly dodged questions Friday about FEMA’s future. He
said that the agency has billions of dollars in reserves “to continue to
pay for necessary expenses.”
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President Donald Trump, center, greets first responders as he
observes flood damage in Kerrville, Texas, Friday, July 11, 2025.
(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
“We also want FEMA to be reformed,” Vought said. “The president is
going to continue to be asking tough questions of all of us
agencies, no different than any other opportunity to have better
government.”
On the ground in devastated communities, meanwhile, some state and
local officials have faced questions about how well they were
prepared and how quickly they acted — including if warning systems
might have given more people time to evacuate.
Asked about such concerns during his appearance at the operations
center in Kerrville, Trump called a reporter “evil” and said he
thought “everyone did an incredible job under the circumstances.”
“I admire you, and I consider you heroes,” Trump said of the
officials around him.
He also praised a long list of Texas Republicans and had especially
kind words for Rep. Chip Roy, who represents some of the hardest-hit
areas. A staunch conservative, Roy initially opposed Trump’s
sweeping tax-cut and spending package but ultimately supported it.
“He’s not easy, but he’s good,” Trump said of Roy. The congressman,
for his part, bristled at questions about authorities' flood
response, calling the queries about inadequate flood warnings
“ridiculous."
Seeing the damage close-up
Prior to the roundtable, Air Force One landed in San Antonio and
Trump deplaned in a suit while the first lady wore more casual
clothing — though both wore ball caps against the heat. The Trumps
then boarded a helicopter to Kerrville and saw the flooding
aftermath from the air. They later walked close to the Guadalupe
River to receive a briefing from officials near an overturned
tractor trailer, numerous downed trees and other debris.
Roads in the center of town were shut down, and people lined the
streets, some wearing Trump hats and T-shirts and waving American
flags. Green ribbons recognizing the lives lost at Camp Mystic were
tied around trees, poles and along bridges, and marquees featured
slogans such as “Hill Country Strong” and “Thank you first
responders.”
Harris Currie, a rancher from Utopia, Texas, near Kerrville, said
the flood devastation can be fully understood only by seeing it
firsthand.
“Pictures do not do it justice,” Currie said.
Asked what officials on the ground needed most urgently from federal
sources, Kerr County Commissioner Jeff Holt, who also is a volunteer
firefighter, stressed the need for repairs to nonworking phone
towers and “maybe a little better early warning system.”
Trump himself has suggested that a major warning system should be
established, though few details have been offered on what that might
eventually entail.
Friday's visit was far different from the other times the first
couple visited natural disaster sites, during Trump's first weekend
back in the White House in January. They toured North Carolina to
scope out damage from Hurricane Helene and saw the aftermath of
wildfires in Los Angeles, and the president sharply criticized the
administration of his predecessor, President Joe Biden, and
officials from deep-blue California.
“The state of Texas, No. 1 they do it right and they've done it
right for a long time," Trump said. "And it's a very special place
to me.”
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Weissert reported from Washington.
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