President Donald Trump is expected to visit Central Texas this week. Local officials and forecasters have defended their actions before and after flash floods killed dozens in the region.

Professional crisis communicators watched the news conferences with dismay. Deflecting blame is not helpful if politicians want to build trust with the public, they say.

But Noem had severely botched FEMA’s Texas response by failing to renew contracts with companies staffing FEMA call centers, resulting in a majority of calls going unanswered for days as the flood waters raged. The secretary dismissed the reporting as “fake news.”

The president met with state and local officials, who praised the White House response, and lashed out at a question on whether aid and rescue efforts occurred fast enough.

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The president also confirmed that he plans to visit Texas to tour the devastation on Friday with First Lady Melania Trump.

U.S. President Donald Trump actually sent 700 U.S. Marine Corps troops to Los Angeles in June 2025 — alongside 4,000 National Guard troops.

The White House pushed back Monday against claims that the DOGE cuts to the National Weather Service played a role in the deadly floods that swept through Texas Hill Country. President Donald Trump and the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency presided over deep cuts to the NWS,

Texas Flood Live Updates: White House Says Blaming Trump For Flooding A ‘Depraved Lie’ As Death Toll Reaches 104 By Antonio Pequeño IV, Forbes Staff and Zachary Folk, Forbes Staff.

That was an act of God. It’s not the administration’s fault that the flood hit when it did, but there were early and consistent warnings and, again, the National Weather Service did its job,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.

After catastrophic flooding in central Texas left the area devastated, the Trump administration’s lackluster response offers a chilling glimpse of what’s in store for when the next disaster strikes.

The number of people missing from the catastrophic flooding in Kerr County, Texas, has been revised from nearly 100 to three. At least 135 people died in the historic floods.