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Trump looks to quash criticism on natural disaster response during Texas visit

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CNN
 — 

President Donald Trump is traveling to central Texas on Friday to survey the aftermath of a catastrophic flood that has killed more than 100 people and put his administration on the sudden defensive over its emergency response efforts.

The flooding, which overwhelmed whole neighborhoods in a matter of minutes, has sparked mounting scrutiny of the government’s warning systems and rescue operations – including a fresh set of bureaucratic obstacles that slowed work by the Federal Emergency Management Agency in the earliest phases of the response.

But Trump is expected to use the trip to tout the progress that search-and-rescue teams are making on the ground, in a show of solidarity aimed at quelling criticism and emphasizing the White House’s close coordination with Texas officials.

“It’s a no-brainer – you go out there and you let people know you care about them,” said one person close to the White House. “President Trump does not want to see things like this happen on his watch. And he views himself as a fixer.”

Trump, who will travel to Texas with first lady Melania Trump, is expected to meet with first responders in the area and receive a briefing from local elected officials, according to a White House official. The president is also planning to meet with some families who were affected by the flood, the official said. The trip has been designed, in part, to not interfere with ongoing search and rescue and recovery efforts.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Sen. Ted Cruz are among those expected to be on site with Trump as well. And Sen. John Cornyn, who is facing a bruising primary challenge from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, is slated to travel aboard Air Force One with Trump, a Cornyn aide confirmed. The trip comes a day after Paxton’s wife filed for divorce, citing “biblical grounds” for ending their 38-year marriage. Trump has so far stayed neutral in the race.

The trip marks the White House’s latest show of support for Texas’ recovery effort, even as Trump officials continue to push for downsizing the government’s emergency preparedness operations – or even eliminating FEMA altogether.

And it represents a stark contrast with Trump’s attitude earlier this year toward California Gov. Gavin Newsom, whom he targeted with harsh criticism amid the blue state’s battle against devastating wildfires.

Trump ultimately visited California in his first domestic trip after taking office, greeting Newsom on the tarmac upon his arrival. But the two have since continued to tussle over a request for billions of dollars in recovery aid for California that remains in limbo.

“Would he do that with Texas? Probably not,” said one Republican operative close to the administration. “There is a difference in terms of how he approaches these things, depending on whether it’s a red state or a blue state.”

In a statement, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson rejected the suggestion that Trump has taken different approaches to certain states based on their politics.

“President Trump has led historic disaster recovery efforts in both California and North Carolina – he’s doing the same in Texas,” Jackson said, citing federal efforts to help quickly remove debris in southern California and support the cleanup process in western North Carolina. “Any claim that the President is giving certain states preferential treatment is not only wrong, it’s idiotic and misinformed.”

Trump has targeted political opponents for their handling of natural disasters in the past, criticizing then-President Joe Biden following deadly wildfires in Hawaii in 2023 and fanning conspiracy theories about the Biden administration’s response in North Carolina to Hurricane Helene last year.

Trump even briefly suggested Biden might be culpable in some way for the flooding in Texas, initially telling reporters that his predecessor was responsible for the water “setup.” It was unclear what he was referring to, and Trump quickly clarified he wasn’t blaming Biden. Since then, Trump and his top aides have avoided casting blame, while accusing critics of the administration’s response of trying to politicize a tragedy. The White House has maintained that the disaster was largely inescapable, while commending the efforts of Abbott – a close political ally – and other state and local officials.

“There’s never been a wave like this, outside of the breaking of a dam,” Trump said during a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday. “And this is the kind of thing that built up so fast, and it’s happened two or three times over the years, but not to this extent.”

The White House has pushed back hard on suggestions that its policies weakened the government’s defenses against such disaster threats. Some Democrats had publicly fretted that deep cuts to the federal bureaucracy would end up restricting the staffing and resources available in emergency situations.

After Democratic lawmakers, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, raised questions over whether efforts to reduce staff at the National Weather Service hampered forecasting of the heavy rains that caused the flash floods, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called it a “depraved lie.”

“Many Democrat elected officials are trying to turn this into a political game, and it is not,” she said earlier this week. “This is a national tragedy.”

Trump officials, in meantime, have doubled down on their vows to shrink FEMA and shift more responsibility for disaster management to individual states – even as advocates for the agency pointed to the Texas flooding as a timely example of why vast federal resources are necessary.

FEMA officials trying to pre-position search-and-rescue crews following the disaster ran into new spending approval requirements imposed by the Trump administration that slowed its work, CNN first reported on Wednesday. Those teams weren’t authorized for deployment until more than 72 hours after the flooding began.

“This would be an unmitigated, unforced disaster, and it would certainly exacerbate the toll of extreme weather events,” a group of House Democrats wrote in a letter Wednesday to FEMA and the agency in charge of the National Weather Service. The letter decried the planned dismantling of FEMA and called for congressional hearings on the flood response.

The Homeland Security Department, which oversees FEMA, has defended the federal response and insisted it will forge ahead on plans to overhaul the agency. The federal response, one Texas official said, has been “as good as anyone could ask for,” given the circumstances, describing Noem as responsive.

On Wednesday, Noem argued that FEMA needs to be “eliminated as it exists today and remade into a responsive agency.”

“Federal emergency management should be state and locally led, rather than how it has operated for decades,” she said.

One state official viewed Texas’ response to the flooding as “a model for what other states could do to start building out a framework for how to be better in control of their own disaster response.”

For Trump, though, allies said the visit represents a more immediate calculation ingrained in him during his first term and on the campaign trail: It pays to show up for those who he believes showed up for him at the ballot box, especially in deep-red states like Texas.

“This is totally on brand,” the person close to the White House said. “He wants to be on the ground.”

This story has been updated with additional reporting.

Betsy Klein contributed to this report.



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Sources: Bears extend general manager Ryan Poles through 2029

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LAKE FOREST, Ill. — The Chicago Bears and general manager Ryan Poles have agreed to a three-year contract extension that runs through the 2029 season, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Friday.

Poles had two years remaining on the five-year contract he signed upon becoming Chicago’s general manager in 2022. He is now aligned with head coach Ben Johnson, whose contract runs through the 2029 season.

ESPN first reported the Bears’ plan to extend Poles during the 2025 offseason in January.

Poles, 39, oversaw a substantial rebuild that coincided with the Bears earning the No. 1 pick after the 2022 and 2023 seasons, respectively. Chicago traded the draft’s top pick to the Carolina Panthers in March 2023 for wide receiver DJ Moore and four draft picks, which Poles used to draft quarterback Caleb Williams, right tackle Darnell Wright, cornerback Tyrique Stevenson, wide receiver Luther Burden III and punter Tory Taylor.

The Bears have gone 15-36 since Poles was hired and saw former coach Matt Eberflus fired midway through the 2024 season, which ended with a 5-12 finish during Williams’ rookie year. Poles led an extensive coaching search in January that saw the Bears interview 17 candidates before landing on Johnson.

Since then, Chicago has made significant investments in the offensive line via trades for guards Joe Thuney, Jonah Jackson and signing center Drew Dalman in free agency. Poles also invested heavily in the defensive trenches with tackles Grady Jarrett, Shemar Turner and defensive end Dayo Odeyingbo.

Poles and Johnson’s first draft together saw the Bears draft two pass-catching weapons with the team’s top two draft picks (tight end Colston Loveland at No. 10 and Burden at No. 39) for the first time in franchise history.

“There’s a rhythm to all the madness behind what we do and how we do it,” Johnson said in April. “And Ryan really is all the brains behind that. He set it all up and you can tell that this group, this organization has been together for a number of years now because it’s been running so smoothly. He’s consistent every single day when he comes in. I think that sometimes is under looked at times, particularly in this profession. Consistency is a huge deal and he’s just done a great job every single day laying out a plan, executing a plan and just getting to know him more.”



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Statement from Chairman of the Board of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac William J. Pulte on Reports that Jerome Powell Is Considering Resigning

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Washington, D.C. – “I’m encouraged by reports that Jerome Powell is considering resigning. I think this will be the right decision for America, and the economy will boom.”

 

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The Federal Housing Finance Agency regulates Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the 11 Federal Home Loan Banks. These government-sponsored enterprises provide more than $8.5 trillion in funding for the U.S. mortgage markets and financial institutions. Additional information is available at www.FHFA.gov, on X @FHFA, YouTube, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

 

Contacts: MediaInq​uiries@FHFA.gov



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Here are the best Prime Day 2025 deals on the final day of the sale

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We made it to the last day of Amazon’s extended Prime Day extravaganza. And, yeah, we’re a little exhausted, but after three days of lightning deals and all-time low prices, there are fewer than 12 hours to go until many of the discounts disappear. So, if you’ve been hesitant to jump on these laptop deals before heading back to school, now’s your time to act. Typically, Prime Day is your last opportunity to take advantage of bottom-dollar prices until Black Friday / Cyber Monday, so it may be a while before you see prices plummet on a gadget you’re interested in buying.

Really, there’s an overwhelming amount of Prime Day deals, so to make things easier to navigate, we’ve organized all of our favorites by category below. That will allow you to quickly find exactly what you’re looking for — or even uncover a deal on something you didn’t know you wanted. You have until Saturday, July 12th, at 3:00 AM ET (that’s Friday, July 11th, at 12:00 AM PT for you West Coast folks), so don’t miss out.

Tablet and e-reader deals

Soundbar and Bluetooth speaker deals

Verge favorites and other miscellaneous deals

Update, July 11th: Added several more deals, including those for Google’s original Pixel Fold, Logitech’s Lift mouse, Oppenheimer on 4K Blu-ray, Sennheiser’s Momentum 4 Wireless, and more.



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