Former President Donald Trump has confirmed plans to visit East Palestine on Wednesday, the Ohio town that was the site of a Norfolk Southern train derailment on Feb. 3.
After the derailment, officials from the rail company and the respective governors of Ohio and Pennsylvania signed off on a plan to essentially blow up the derailed tanker cars to burn away the chemicals, a decision that remains controversial. The end result is a town that has remained under siege from a toxic dump of chemicals into local streams and rivers along with irritants in the air which have reportedly killed fish, livestock, and other animals.
In the wake of the leadership void left by the Biden administration and the derelict Pete Buttigieg, Trump announced plans to visit the town to shine a spotlight on the disaster.
Few details have been released ahead of the visit, which is set to take place on Wednesday, but this will not be a large rally event but more akin to a government official touring a disaster area. Trump will likely meet with local leaders and residents but will not be holding a large public event.
As has previously been reported, the Federal Amegerneyc Management Agency (FEMA), at Biden’s direction, refused to declare the site a disaster area despite requests from Ohio Governor Mike DeWine.
Shortly after rumors surfaced of Trump’s impending visit earlier last week, FEMA appeared to reverse course on Friday:
On Saturday Trump shared an article on Truth Social about his planned visit to Ohio. Writing of those affected by the derailment, he said: “Great people who need help, NOW!”
In another post, Trump wrote: “Biden and FEMA said they would not be sending federal aid to East Palestine. As soon as I announced that I’m going, he announced a team will go. Hopefully he will also be there. This is good news because we got them to ‘move.’ The people of East Palestine need help. I’ll see you on Wednesday!”
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) confirmed on Friday that they will be providing assistance to Ohio after reportedly earlier telling Governor Mike DeWine’s office that the state was not eligible for emergency help.
This is undoubtedly a victory for Trump in that his decision to highlight the failures of the Biden administration may have ended up altering the way the White House has been responding to the disaster. Up to this point, it’s been an ongoing campaign of deflection and buck-passing, two hallmarks of Joe Biden’s presidency.
The end result could be the optics of Trump with a presidential-looking visit to amplify the concerns of residents in the face of a sitting president that claims to care about working-class Americans but then ducks out when it’s time to show up.
President Biden, meanwhile, has been in Ukraine promising to send more aid:
Biden sneaking off to Ukraine and letting Trump be the one to visit East Palestine, Ohio instead is one of his greatest unforced errors in recent memory. pic.twitter.com/xbjINDSNCo
— Holding Biden Accountable (@WaitingOnBiden) February 20, 2023
The details are sparse with regard to exactly when and where Trump will be other than plans to be touring the area on Wednesday, Feb. 22.
