President Trump on Thursday canceled his trip to Poland that was scheduled for this weekend due to a hurricane that is expected to hit Florida in the coming days.
Vice President Pence will travel to Poland in Trump’s place, the president told reporters during a press conference in the White House Rose Garden.
{mosads}Hurricane Dorian is expected to gain strength in the coming days, and could hit the Florida coast as soon as Saturday as a Category 4 storm.
“It’s something very important for me to be here,” Trump said. “This storm looks like it could be a very, very big one indeed.”
Trump was scheduled to spend Saturday and Sunday in Poland to meet with President Andrzej Duda and attend ceremonies commemorating the 80th anniversary of World War II in Warsaw.
The president said he spoke with Duda about the change in plans, adding that he intended to visit the country another time.
The trip was originally supposed to include a stop in Denmark, but Trump tweeted earlier this month that he had scrapped that visit after Danish leaders rejected the possibility of the U.S. purchasing Greenland.
Pence’s stop in Poland will precede previously announced visits to Iceland and the United Kingdom set to take place next week.
Trump and other government officials have in recent days been tracking the path of Hurricane Dorian, which missed hitting Puerto Rico directly, but appears poised to lash the eastern coast of Florida.
“Hurricane Dorian looks like it will be hitting Florida late Sunday night,” Trump tweeted Thursday morning. “Be prepared and please follow State and Federal instructions, it will be a very big Hurricane, perhaps one of the biggest!”
Florida authorities on Wednesday declared a state of emergency in anticipation of the storm.
Forecasters on Thursday projected that Dorian could bring flooding rains and winds of up to 130 miles per hour.
It could become the first hurricane of Category 4 or stronger to hit the eastern coast of Florida since Hurricane Andrew decimated parts of the state in 1992.
Updated 4:40 p.m.