Trump visits Texas flood sites amid search for missing
At least 120 people, including many children, have died after a river overflowed on July 4. The flood swept away homes, cabins, vehicles, and people. Search teams are still looking for 170 people who are missing.
Speaking in central Texas's Hill Country after he and First Lady Melania Trump had met with first responders, local officials, and victims' families, Trump said, 'this is a tough one'.
'I've never seen anything like this,' Trump said at a roundtable meeting in Kerrville, in Kerr County, the worst-affected by the floods.
'I've gone to a lot of hurricanes, a lot of tornadoes. I've never seen anything like this. This is a bad one,' Trump said.
He also compared the rising floodwaters to a 'giant wave in the Pacific Ocean that the best surfers in the world would be afraid to surf'.
Trump administration faces scrutiny over response to the disaster
Trump, who has pledged to shrink or abolish the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as part of his drive to drastically reduce the size of the federal government, praised the first responders in Texas, a Republican state.
'The search for the missing continues. The people that are doing it are unbelievable,' Trump said. 'You couldn't get better people, and they're doing the job like I don't think anybody else could, frankly.'
The Republican leader has previously been critical of officials in Democrat-run states that were struck by natural disasters.
He reacted with anger when a reporter said some families affected by the floods had expressed frustration that warnings did not go out sooner.
'I think everyone did an incredible job under the circumstances,' he said. 'I don't know who you are, but only a very evil person would ask a question like that.'
Trump also discussed the flood victims from Camp Mystic, an all-girls Christian summer camp where at least 27 people, mostly children, 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,' he said.
Fears death toll will rise
With more than 170 people missing, including five girls who were attending a summer camp, more than eight days after the disaster struck, hopes are dwindling of finding more survivors.
Trump has repeatedly faced questions from reporters about how his administration's severe cuts to a range of federal agencies, including FEMA, have affected the response to the floods, which the president has described as 'a 100-year catastrophe' which 'nobody expected'.
Emergency evacuation messages to people along the Guadalupe River which flooded were reportedly delayed.
Kristi Noem, who was with Trump on his trip to Texas, said on Thursday that the response to the flood was 'swift and efficient'.
DW
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Observer
4 hours ago
- Observer
UN demands justice in Ukraine talks, as deaths spike
GENEVA: The United Nations insisted on Tuesday that any peace talks on Russia's war in Ukraine must include full accountability for the conflict's litany of violations, following the deadliest month for civilians since May 2022. The call from UN rights chief Volker Turk came the day after US President Donald Trump told Moscow to end the war within 50 days or face massive new economic sanctions. Trump also laid out plans for infusions of weaponry for Kyiv via Nato. In recent weeks, Trump has shown increasing frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin, with Moscow stepping up attacks rather than stopping them. "An immediate ceasefire is needed now to end this unbearable suffering," Liz Throssell, a spokeswoman for Turk's office, told a media briefing. "Work on a lasting peace, in line with international law, must intensify — a peace that ensures accountability for gross violations of international human rights law and serious violations of international humanitarian law." Rather than being sidelined or overlooked, "any move towards ceasefire, towards peace — accountability must be at its heart", she added. Throssell said Turk wanted any negotiations to focus in the immediate term on ending attacks that affect civilians and protecting the rights of people in occupied territory. They should also seek to return forcibly transferred or deported children, establish humanitarian corridors across the line of control and an bring end to the torture and ill treatment of prisoners of war and other detainees, she said. Russia launched the full-scale attack of its neighbour in February 2022. Moscow has unleashed record waves of drone and missile attacks over the past few weeks, with the number of Ukrainian civilians killed or wounded in June hitting a three-year high, according to UN figures, with 232 people killed and 1,343 injured. "July has brought no respite for civilians in Ukraine," said Throssell. So far this month at least 139 civilians have reportedly been killed and 791 wounded, she said, citing the "intense and successive waves of missile and drone strikes" launched by Russian forces. "Intense and sustained attacks using explosive weapons with wide area effects in populated areas are likely to have indiscriminate impacts and as such raise serious concerns as to their compliance with international humanitarian law," said Throssell. The UN human rights office has so far been able to verify and document at least 13,580 civilians killed and 34,115 wounded since the Russian attack began but acknowledges that the full figures will be far higher. Meanwhile, the Kremlin warned on Tuesday that US President Donald Trump's pledge of more weapons for Kyiv and threat of sanctions targeting Russian trading partners could embolden Ukraine and further delay already stalled peace efforts. Trump a day earlier gave Russia 50 days to strike a peace deal with Ukraine, voicing fresh frustration with Moscow as he laid out an arrangement with Nato to supply Kyiv with new military aid sponsored by the alliance's members. The Republican forced Moscow and Kyiv to open peace talks to end the conflict, now in its fourth year, but Russia has rejected calls for a ceasefire and launched a record number of drones and missiles at Ukraine in recent months. Moscow said it needed more time to respond fully to Trump's statement, but hinted it did not appear conducive to successful negotiations. "It seems that such a decision made in Washington and in Nato countries and directly in Brussels will be perceived by Kyiv not as a signal for peace but for the continuation of the war," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. "President Trump's statement is very serious. We certainly need time to analyse what was said in Washington," he told reporters in Moscow's first reaction to the comments. Two rounds of talks between Russia and Ukraine, held in Türkiye in recent months, have made no progress towards ending the fighting and yielded only large-scale prisoner exchanges. Tens of thousands have been killed since Russia launched its offensive, with millions forced to flee their homes in eastern and southern Ukraine, which has been decimated by aerial attacks and ground assaults. — AFP
Times of Oman
15 hours ago
- Times of Oman
"Fueling Putin's war machine": US Senators say penalise India, China, Brazil with 500% tarriff to deter trade with Russia
Washington DC [US]: Amid US President Donald Trump call for imposing 100 per cent "secondary tariffs" on Moscow if Russian President Vladimir Putin fails to end the conflict in Ukraine within 50 days, Senators Lindsey Graham and Richard Blumenthal have warned countries, including India, of economic sanctions if they continue business with Russia. South Carolina Republican Senator Graham and Democratic Senator Bluementhal are leading 85 cosponsors on a bipartisan bill they introduced in Congress earlier this year calling for implementing sanctions on Moscow, which they say could be a "sledgehammer" President Trump needs to end the conflict. "We'll continue to push for Senator Graham & my Russia Sanctions bill with even tougher penalties to deter India, China, Brazil & others from fueling Putin's war machine. Congressional action sends a powerful message of support," Richard Bluementhal said in a post on his social media handle X. As per a joint statement by Graham and Blumenthal, China, India, and Brazil and other nations "that prop up Putin's war machine" by purchasing "cheap Russian oil and gas", which that claim is fuelling Putin's effort in the conflict with Russia. It called for the imposition of tariffs as high as 500 per cent on any country that helps Russia. Trump announced "secondary tariffs" on Russia during his meeting with NATO General Secretary Mark Rutte on Monday (US local time). Democratic Senator Blumenthal, in a post, lauded the US President's decision, calling it a "breakthrough step" while slamming Putin by calling him a "thug". He further called for pushing the bill, "Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025", introduced by him and Senator Graham on April 1, noting that the bill will impose "tougher penalties to deter India, China, Brazil" and other countries that are still in business with Moscow. "The President's announcement is a breakthrough step--committing to both substantial military aid & strong sanctions. It recognizes the urgency of showing sledgehammer strength--because peace through strength is the only viable strategy with a thug like Putin," Blumenthal post on X read A joint statement by Graham and Blumenthal noted that Trump's announcement was a strong executive measure to push all parties toward negotiations with the true aim to compel Putin to engage in peace talks. "The ultimate hammer to bring about the end of this war will be tariffs against countries, like China, India and Brazil, that prop up Putin's war machine by purchasing cheap Russian oil and gas. President Trump's decision to announce the implementation of 100 percent secondary tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil and gas if a peace agreement is not reached in the next 50 days is a real executive hammer to drive the parties to the negotiating table. The goal is not more tariffs and sanctions - the goal is to entice Putin to come to the peace table," the statement read. "Finally, as President Trump indicated, we will join our colleagues in continuing to work with the White House on our bipartisan Russia sanctions legislation that would implement up to 500 percent tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil and gas and do not help Ukraine," it said. Trump, during his meeting with the NATO chief, stated that he was "very unhappy" with Russia and announced the imposition of the 100 per cent tariffs on Russia if a peace deal wasn't made within 50 days. "One of the reasons that you're here today is to hear that we are very unhappy - I am - with Russia. But we will discuss that maybe another day. But we're very, very unhappy with them, and we're going to be doing very severe tariffs if we don't have a deal in 50 days. Tariffs at about 100 percent. You'd call them secondary tariffs. But today, we're going to talk about something else," Trump had said. Earlier this month, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar stated that the Indian embassy and ambassador have been in touch with Senator Graham regarding the bill on Russia and that "India will have to cross that bridge if it comes to it." Addressing a press conference, Jaishankar had stated that India's concerns and interests on energy and security have been made conversant to Graham. When asked about US plans to impose a 500 per cent tariff on the import of Russian oil, Jaishankar said, "Regarding Senator Lindsey Graham's bill, any development which is happening in the US Congress is of interest to us if it impacts our interest or could impact our interest. So we have been in touch with Senator Lindsey Graham. The embassy, ambassador have been in touch. Our concerns and our interests on energy, security have been made conversant to him. So we'll then have to cross that bridge when we come to it. If we come to it."
Observer
a day ago
- Observer
Britain and Europe are changing together
Many state visits are empty, symbolic acts that have little to no policy content or lasting significance. But every now and then, such a visit changes the shape of international relations. Could French President Emmanuel Macron's recently concluded trip to London be one of them? Macron's three-day trip, the first state visit to the United Kingdom by a European Union head of state since Brexit in 2020, had plenty of pomp and pageantry. But it also focused on policy and politics, which reflects a profound shift in the UK's circumstances since leaving the EU. During the upheaval of the Brexit psychodrama, there was little interest in constructive exchange, and the UK's relationship with Europe remained defined by its lurching departure from the bloc. But nearly a decade on, Donald Trump is back in the White House and has launched a trade war on the world. Russian President Vladimir Putin has shredded the European security order. And Chinese President Xi Jinping has resorted to threats of economic coercion – a striking reversal from the 'golden era' of UK-China relations proclaimed in 2015. Even more dramatic, perhaps, are the changes in the EU. The big policy initiatives launched during Macron's UK visit reflect the forces that are turning the bloc on its head. First, the EU is moving from a peace project to a war union. For most of its existence, the EU sought peace through economic integration. But Putin's war of Ukraine in 2022 reoriented the bloc towards security – a goal that has taken on greater urgency since Trump cast doubt on the United States' commitment to collective security on the continent. There is broad support for this new orientation. According to a recent opinion poll conducted by the European Council on Foreign Relations, many Europeans favour increased defence spending, conscription and the development of a European or national nuclear deterrent. Against this backdrop, Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer took a bold first step towards establishing an independent nuclear deterrent with the Northwood Declaration, in which they agreed that 'there is no extreme threat to Europe that would not prompt a response by our two nations.' A second major change is the development of 'securonomics.' The EU economy is under pressure from Trump's tariffs and China's export restrictions on magnets and critical minerals. EU policymakers now talk of de-risking, diversifying and deepening the single market, rather than pursuing free-trade agreements. While the UK has made it clear that it will not rejoin the single market or the customs union, the question is whether it can persuade the EU that it can be counted on to help the bloc achieve its new trade goals, or whether it will be given unfriendly treatment because it is seen as posing a risk to those objectives. Domestic politics in Europe has also undergone a rapid transformation. It has been fascinating to watch Macron – once a poster boy for liberal universalism – reinvent himself as a champion of secure borders and protectionism, while taking a tougher stance on crime. This volte-face has seen mainstream European politicians shift focus towards defending national sovereignty – from Russia, China, Trump, and migration – while they try to contain populist parties such as Marine Le Pen's National Rally and Alternative für Deutschland. That is the backdrop for the ground-breaking deal that Starmer and Macron signed on migration returns. Starmer's approach to Europe is a marked improvement from that of former Conservative prime ministers Boris Johnson (who compared the EU to Napoleon and Hitler) and Liz Truss (who questioned whether Macron was a friend or a foe). Starmer has proved himself, particularly with his deft diplomacy on Ukraine, to be a reliable partner and stakeholder, regaining the trust of EU institutions and member states. One senior German policymaker told me how impressed he was by the UK filling the leadership vacuum created by Trump's disregard for Ukraine. In other words, the UK is widely seen in Europe as being 'part of the team' again. The EU-UK summit in May provided a clear framework for deepening the relationship, not least through a Security and Defence Partnership that paves the way for British participation in European defence programmes. But the UK government has remained far too cautious in other areas. Most notably, Starmer has been careful not to cross the Labour Party's self-imposed red lines: no freedom of movement, no customs union and no single market. Future historians may well wonder why Starmer did not aim higher. The changing international environment offers Starmer a clear opportunity to redraw Europe's political map, which would establish him as one of Britain's most consequential leaders. But to do so, Starmer must convince British voters that today's Europe is a different creature from the one they imagine: a defence community that is more focused on safeguarding the continent than on transcending the nation-state. And he must explain how the UK can help build this new European security order, so long as it banishes the Brexit mindset. As a post-liberal Europe emerges, Britain must stop clinging to the past and seize the chance to shape the continent's future in a way that advances its interests. That requires acknowledging that both the EU and the UK have entered a new era. Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2025
