Former President Donald Trump has confirmed that he will visit East Palestine, Ohio, next week, following a report on Friday that claimed he would visit the town.
Trump claimed on social media that President Joe Biden and the Federal Emergency Management Agency would not be sending federal aid to East Palestine, but reversed course “as soon as I announced that I’m going.” The initial report by Fox News claiming Trump would visit East Palestine was published at 6:12 p.m. EST on Friday, with Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) announcing roughly an hour later that FEMA would be deploying federal resources to East Palestine.
OHIO TRAIN DERAILMENT: BIDEN ADMINISTRATION THREATENS PENALTIES FOR NORFOLK SOUTHERN
“Biden and FEMA said they would not be sending federal aid to East Palestine,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “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!”
Trump’s confirmation for his visit comes after the White House announced on Friday that there are no plans for Biden to visit the village, where a toxic train derailment occurred on Feb. 3. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre noted that Biden’s immediate schedule is currently packed with his trip to Poland to mark the beginning of the war in Ukraine one year ago.
Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) visited East Palestine earlier this week and challenged Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan to drink the local tap water. In a video posted to social media, Vance visited a local East Palestine creek where he said there were “dead worms and dead fish” throughout the bed of water, calling it “disgusting” and encouraging viewers to “not forget” the residents of the village.
Visited a local creek in East Palestine today. These waterways are still very polluted. It’s time for Norfolk Southern to finish the cleanup. Check this video out: pic.twitter.com/4lsHBmrMJj
— J.D. Vance (@JDVance1) February 16, 2023
The Biden administration announced Friday that the Department of Health and Human Services and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will deploy a team of medical personnel and toxicologists to East Palestine “to conduct public health testing and assessments” following the train derailment. Additionally, the response effort will loop in the EPA, Department of Transportation, and FEMA.
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DeWine reassured residents on Friday that rail company Norfolk Southern will cover all the costs for the damage to the town and residents, including any future costs if it turns out that the toxic chemicals could one day cause cancer.
“We’re gonna make them do it,” DeWine said in an interview on Fox & Friends. “The railroad created this problem, the people did not create this problem. They brought this into the community. It was their railroad that had this massive wreck that was traumatic for the people. We’re going to hold their feet to the fire, we’re going to stay on them, they are going to do it.”
