As Tropical Storm Harvey battered Texas Sunday morning, President Trump’s focus on Twitter was split between recovery efforts, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the Missouri Senate race and his long-promised border wall.
Trump began his morning by promoting a book written by Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke, who has been an outspoken supporter of the president.
“A great book by a great guy, highly recommended!” Trump wrote, sharing a tweet from Clarke about his book, titled “Cop Under Fire: Moving Beyond Hashtags of Race, Crime and Politics for a Better America.”
{mosads}The president then went on to praise the federal government’s response to Harvey, which first made landfall Friday as a Category 4 hurricane, in three tweets between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m.
“Great coordination between agencies at all levels of government. Continuing rains and flash floods are being dealt with. Thousands rescued,” Trump wrote.
“Many people are now saying that this is the worst storm/hurricane they have ever seen. Good news is that we have great talent on the ground.
“I will be going to Texas as soon as that trip can be made without causing disruption. The focus must be life and safety.”
Trump later added that he would visit the state of Missouri, arguing a Republican would win the seat held by Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill in the 2018 midterm elections.
“I will also be going to a wonderful state, Missouri, that I won by a lot in ’16. Dem C.M. is opposed to big tax cuts. Republican will win S!” he said.
After 10 minutes, Trump pivoted back to the Harvey recovery effort.
“Wow – Now experts are calling #Harvey a once in 500 year flood! We have an all out effort going, and going well!” Trump said.
Fewer then 20 minutes later, the president reiterated his signature campaign promise: a wall on the southern border funded by Mexico.
“With Mexico being one of the highest crime Nations in the world, we must have THE WALL. Mexico will pay for it through reimbursement/other,” Trump wrote.
The president’s immigration policies have come under closer scrutiny in recent days following his pardon of former Maricopa County, Ariz. Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Arpaio last month was convicted of criminal contempt for disobeying a court order calling for him to halt his racial profiling policies.
From Mexico, Trump within minutes moved on to NAFTA, a trade agreement he has repeatedly slammed since his presidential campaign.
“We are in the NAFTA (worst trade deal ever made) renegotiation process with Mexico & Canada.Both being very difficult,may have to terminate?” Trump wrote.
But the president ended Sunday morning focused on the severity of the storm hammering Texas.
“Going to a Cabinet Meeting (tele-conference) at 11:00 A.M. on #Harvey. Even experts have said they’ve never seen one like this!” Trump wrote.
“Major rescue operations underway!” he added minutes later.