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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| Trump Visits Florida After Hurricane Michael | Trump Visits Florida After Hurricane Michael |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| VALPARAISO, Fla. — For President Trump, it has become a recurring ritual of the fall. | VALPARAISO, Fla. — For President Trump, it has become a recurring ritual of the fall. |
| He and his wife, Melania, landed here on Monday to tour the damage from another hurricane, Michael, which tore through the Florida Panhandle last week, leaving a path of utter destruction behind it. | He and his wife, Melania, landed here on Monday to tour the damage from another hurricane, Michael, which tore through the Florida Panhandle last week, leaving a path of utter destruction behind it. |
| Mr. Trump was scheduled to tour the Gulf Coast of Florida, where hurricane winds of 155 m.p.h. lifted houses from their foundations in towns like Mexico Beach, leaving piles of debris for miles. | Mr. Trump was scheduled to tour the Gulf Coast of Florida, where hurricane winds of 155 m.p.h. lifted houses from their foundations in towns like Mexico Beach, leaving piles of debris for miles. |
| On the way back to Washington, the president is also scheduled to stop in Georgia, where the damage from winds was less devastating but the rains caused severe flooding, not unlike Hurricane Florence in the Carolinas several weeks ago. | On the way back to Washington, the president is also scheduled to stop in Georgia, where the damage from winds was less devastating but the rains caused severe flooding, not unlike Hurricane Florence in the Carolinas several weeks ago. |
| The White House issued little information about the president’s schedule. But if it follows recent practice, Mr. Trump will be briefed on the relief and recovery efforts by federal, state and local officials, then tour some of the hardest-hit neighborhoods. | The White House issued little information about the president’s schedule. But if it follows recent practice, Mr. Trump will be briefed on the relief and recovery efforts by federal, state and local officials, then tour some of the hardest-hit neighborhoods. |
| Mr. Trump’s experience with storms has turned him into a kind of amateur meteorologist. Last week, in the Oval Office, he drew a crisp distinction between the two storms, describing Michael as a deadly but fast-moving cyclone while Florence stalled in North Carolina, inundating the state with record-shattering rainfall and South Carolina with water runoff. | Mr. Trump’s experience with storms has turned him into a kind of amateur meteorologist. Last week, in the Oval Office, he drew a crisp distinction between the two storms, describing Michael as a deadly but fast-moving cyclone while Florence stalled in North Carolina, inundating the state with record-shattering rainfall and South Carolina with water runoff. |
| Still, for someone whose presidency has been interrupted repeatedly by these freakish storms, Mr. Trump remains stubbornly unwilling to acknowledge the threat of climate change. | Still, for someone whose presidency has been interrupted repeatedly by these freakish storms, Mr. Trump remains stubbornly unwilling to acknowledge the threat of climate change. |
| In an interview broadcast Sunday by “60 Minutes,” Mr. Trump acknowledged there had been changes in the earth’s climate in recent years. But he cast doubt on whether human activity was a cause of it, and he suggested that climate scientists had a “political agenda.” | In an interview broadcast Sunday by “60 Minutes,” Mr. Trump acknowledged there had been changes in the earth’s climate in recent years. But he cast doubt on whether human activity was a cause of it, and he suggested that climate scientists had a “political agenda.” |
| Last week, Mr. Trump had little reaction to a new report by the United Nations, which warned of mass wildfires, food shortages, and dying coral reefs by as soon as 2040, if the world did not act immediately to stem the rise in temperatures. | Last week, Mr. Trump had little reaction to a new report by the United Nations, which warned of mass wildfires, food shortages, and dying coral reefs by as soon as 2040, if the world did not act immediately to stem the rise in temperatures. |
| Mr. Trump promoted his trip on Twitter on Monday morning, praising emergency workers and law enforcement for their “maximum effort.” He said Florida had been “worst hit in 50 years!” | Mr. Trump promoted his trip on Twitter on Monday morning, praising emergency workers and law enforcement for their “maximum effort.” He said Florida had been “worst hit in 50 years!” |
| But the president also kept up a steady stream of political tweets, in advance of next month’s midterm elections. He claimed, with dubious evidence, that “the crowds at my Rallies are far bigger than they have ever been before, including the 2016 election. Never an empty seat in these large venues, many thousands watching screens outside.” | But the president also kept up a steady stream of political tweets, in advance of next month’s midterm elections. He claimed, with dubious evidence, that “the crowds at my Rallies are far bigger than they have ever been before, including the 2016 election. Never an empty seat in these large venues, many thousands watching screens outside.” |
| There were, in fact, empty seats at a recent “Make America Great Again” rally in Billings, Mont. Mr. Trump plans to speak again in Montana at a rally later this week, as well as in Arizona and in Nevada. Last week, he defended his decision to hold a rally in Erie, Pa., as Hurricane Michael was wreaking havoc in Florida. | |
| “Well, I hear they have thousands of people lined up there, so we are in a little bit of a quagmire,” Mr. Trump told reporters. | “Well, I hear they have thousands of people lined up there, so we are in a little bit of a quagmire,” Mr. Trump told reporters. |