The Future of Federal Disaster Response

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Donald Trump has wrapped up his tour of central Texas, where he met with state officials and those affected by last week’s devastating floods. Panelists on Washington Week With The Atlantic joined to discuss the role of federal agencies and emergency disaster response under the second Trump administration.

What presidents from Bill Clinton on have frequently done in response to emergency disasters is “find ways to connect with people on the ground” and “show that they’re not only going to bring resources from the federal government, but they understand their plight,” Peter Baker, the chief White House correspondent for The New York Times, said last night. “And that’s just not where Trump is. He is sometimes very good at mobilizing resources, but he is not good, I think, at connecting with people who are in pain.”

Although the president “was more empathetic than we’ve seen him in the past,” Tarini Parti, a White House reporter at The Wall Street Journal, added, he was still looking to “tout his administration’s response.” Unlike other administrations, she continued, Trump has chosen to scale back his federal response, instead relying on state and local officials.

Joining Ashley Parker, a guest moderator and a staff writer at The Atlantic, to discuss this and more: Zolan Kanno-Youngs, a White House correspondent for The New York Times; Tarini Parti, a White House reporter at The Wall Street Journal; Nancy Youssef, a staff writer at The Atlantic; and Peter Baker, the chief White House correspondent for The New York Times.

Watch the full episode here.