President Trump arrived in Corpus Christi to survey storm damage and to express solidarity with Texans.
“The world is watching, and the world is very impressed with what you are doing,” Trump told the several dozen emergency workers huddled over their laptops at the state’s command center for the response to Hurricane Harvey. The operations center is located at the Texas Department of Public Safety headquarters on North Lamar Boulevard.
The president, accompanied by first lady Melania Trump, was introduced to applause by Gov. Greg Abbott.
“The person who has enabled us to have the resources we need is the president of the United States,” Abbott said.
But Trump, in a short boardroom meeting that followed with lawmakers, including U.S. Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and a number of Cabinet members — including Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson, Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price, and Small Business Administrator Linda McMahon — noted the daunting task ahead.
“Probably, there’s never been anything so expensive in our country’s history. There’s never been anything so historic in terms of damage and in term of ferocity as what we’ve witnessed with Harvey,” the president said. The aftermath, he said, will be “a costly proposition.”