KERRVILLE, Texas — President Donald Trump on Friday toured the disaster from the flash flooding in central Texas during the July 4 holiday weekend but his visit left residents with more questions than answers.
Trump’s visit comes amid questions about how both state officials responded to the crisis as well as questions about the federal response and the future of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Trump, along with First Lady Melania Trump, made the visit one week after heavy rainfall caused severe flooding — leading to the deaths of 121 people and hundreds still missing.
Although, you would not know that if you watched Trump’s press conference with state officials. With local officials under pressure by the public on what went wrong, Gov. Greg Abbott and the media in attendance decided to shower the President with praise and complements.
Abbott said the federal government’s response was “the fastest [disaster response] that I’m aware of.”
Rep. Chip Roy, who represents Kerrville, thanked Trump and echoed Abbott’s praise.
“I can’t thank you enough. When I called you on Friday, you said, ‘whatever you need’ … I’ve never seen such a quick response and such a focus on delivering for the people,” he said.
However, the people of Central Texas are mad and are demanding answers from local and federal government. Trump brushed their concerns aside when asked by a reporter to respond to criticism that officials failing to warn victims in time.
“Everyone did an incredible job under the circumstances,” Trump, before criticizing the reporter.
“Only a bad person would ask a question like that,” he continued. “I think this has been heroism.”
Roy also took his time in criticizing the reporter, who asked a valid question with concerns swirling.
“When you see 26 feet of water rising a foot a minute, don’t go around pointing fingers,” he said.
The press conference ended after nearly an hour with no update on those missing or any change in the death toll. Instead, Trump took a handful questions from reporters, setting up his chance to attack Democrats and use his favorite line, alleging with no evidence that America was “dead” under former President Joe Biden but was now “the hottest country.”
Several Kerrville residents took issue with Trump, telling FWRD AXIS News the President “doesn’t seem to understand” what the Central Texas residents are going through.
Maria Lewis, a local high school teacher, said her family lost everything in the floods but Trump criticizing other leaders is not going to help her rebuild.
“We’ve lost everything — our home is underwater, and he’s up there talking like this is just a small issue,” she said. “It’s insulting. We need help, not political theater.”
James Townsend, a 58-year-old Trump voter in both 2016 and 2024, lost his hardware store to the recent floods. Despite his hopes for the President to provide answers, he instead lashed out at Democrats.
“I watched the press conference hoping for answers or support,” he said. “Instead, I got deflection and finger-pointing. I voted for him twice because of his style to get others on board. My business is gone. Where’s the real leadership?”
With families waiting on news about their loved ones and others trying to move on and rebuild, Trump asserted the lie that that another president wouldn’t have come to Texas after the floods — which is not true. Trumps’ recent predecessors, such as Joe Biden and George W. Bush, all made trips to affected areas following disasters.
Perhaps Angela Reynolds, a 27-year-old mother of two that voted for Trump, echoed similar feelings of those in Central Texas the past week.
“While he was talking about Joe Biden and Democrats, I was trying to find a dry place for my kids to sleep,” she said. “When he was receiving praise, I went to my what’s left of my home and cried. He doesn’t seem to understand what we’re going through.”
