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In Austin, Trump Praises Coordination Efforts Following 'Monster' Storm Harvey

President Trump visited Corpus Christi to be briefed on damage sustained during Hurricane Harvey last week.
Martin do Nascimento
/
KUT
President Trump and first lady Melania Trump visit Corpus Christi to be briefed on damage sustained during Hurricane Harvey.

5:05 p.m. President Trump has left Austin after meeting with state officials at the Texas Department of Public Safety.  

4:18 p.m. Trump again praised state relief efforts following Tropical Storm Harvey, according to pool reports. The president said the recovery is going to be long term, but that it would be a "costly proposition." 

4:04 p.m. – Trump has left the DPS facility and is apparently heading to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. 

3:43 p.m.  At his briefing with Gov. Greg Abbott and other state officials, Trump said the relief efforts associated with Tropical Storm Harvey would be expensive, but that Congress would support Texas in rebuilding. 

Gov. Greg Abbott presents President Trump at Operations Center, where he thanks them for work dealing w/ epic storm. pic.twitter.com/535twwQ1yZ — jonathantilove (@JTiloveTX) August 29, 2017

But demonstrators are still outside the building shouting each other down. 

3:21 p.m. President Trump has arrived at the DPS headquarters on Lamar and Koenig. 

Outside, the president's supporters and detractors are having a shouting match, according to KUT's Claire McInerny. 

3:07 p.m. – The presidential motorcade is heading along 290 to the DPS' Emergency Operations Center, according to KXAN.  

Meanwhile, protesters are awaiting President Trump's arrival. 

2:30 p.m. – President Trump has landed in Austin.

He'll now head to the DPS Emergency Operations Center. It's unclear which route his motorcade will take, but the city's transportation department said in a tweet that "there will be implications" at around 2:30 p.m.

Meanwhile, Claire McInerny is awaiting Trump's arrival outside the facility at North Lamar Boulevard and 2222, where she's found demonstrators who both support and oppose the president. 

2:15 p.m. – The president and Gov. Greg Abbott will land shortly in Austin to tour the Texas Department of Transportation's Emergency Operations Center in North Austin. They're expected to land at around 2:30 p.m. 

It's unclear which route the presidential motorcade will take, but the Austin Police Department has advised drivers to expect delays between 1:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. 

Meanwhile, a group of demonstrators has gathered outside the DPS facility, according to KUT's Claire McInerny. 

The Trump administration has until Sept. 5 to repeal the Obama-era Deferred Action of Childhood Arrivals, which has allowed hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants to live and work in the country without fear of being deported. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, along with nine other attorneys general, wrote a letter to the White House in June asking Trump to phase out the program. 

1:22 p.m. – President Trump is on his way back to Corpus Christi International Airport to fly to Austin on Air Force One. He's scheduled to arrive at around 2:30 p.m.

Prior to his return, he gave an impromptu speech atop a fire engine outside the Annaville Fire Department, praising the state's response to Harvey and saying "Texas can handle anything." 

trump_to_annaville_crowd.mp3
President Trump addressing a crowd outside the Annaville Fire Department.

12:14 p.m.  President Trump is receiving a briefing on the damage in Nueces and Aransas counties. 

Trump said specifically that he was "very, very proud" of the relief efforts of the Coast Guard. 

FEMA Director Brock Long advised residents whose homes sustained damage to apply for assistance at disasterassistance.gov.

Watch a stream of the briefing below courtesy of PBSNewshour:

11:36 p.m. – Trump will be briefed on relief efforts in Corpus, which, along with Rockport, shouldered the brunt of the hurricane-force winds when Harvey made landfall Friday. The trip will be brief; Trump is scheduled to leave Corpus at 1:30 p.m. and head to Austin.

11:15 a.m. – President Trump is arriving at Corpus Christi International Airport. KUT's Jimmy Maas is live from the tarmac. 

Trump will meet with Gov. Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick before heading to Austin later this afternoon. 

7:59 a.m. – President Trump is on his way to Texas, per his Twitter account. 

Ahead of Trump's arrival in Austin, the left-leaning group Indivisible has planned a demonstration at the North Lamar location of the state's emergency response center, where the president will meet Gov. Greg Abbott. The group's protest will center on Trump's possible repeal of the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which protects undocumented immigrants who entered the U.S. during childhood from deportation. 

The group urged would-be demonstrators to "not show up looking for violence of any kind" in a Facebook post announcing the protest

[W]e just got word that Trump plans to rescind DACA tomorrow, August 29. After Charlottesville, the Arpaio pardon, the transgender military ban, and Trump's utter callousness during the worst storm to in history, we felt that we could not allow Trump to use this as an opportunity to make this about him.

Original Post: 

President Donald Trump is scheduled to visit Austin on Tuesday afternoon, as part of a swing through Texas to survey storm damage and be briefed by local and state officials on the impact of Hurricane Harvey. 

Trump will visit Corpus Christi Tuesday morning, getting a briefing from officials, and depart at 1:30 p.m. He's scheduled to arrive at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport around 2:25 p.m. From there, he'll head to the Texas Department of Public Safety's Emergency Operations Center on North Lamar for a tour and a briefing from state officials. He's scheduled to leave Austin at 4:20 p.m.

Traffic promises to be heavy during that time, as local police typically close roads along the President's route.

The last time Trump visited Austin was during the 2016 election campaign, when he held a fundraiser and a rally at the Travis County Expo Center.

Matt Largey is the Projects Editor at KUT. That means doing a little bit of everything: editing reporters, producing podcasts, reporting, training, producing live events and always being on the lookout for things that make his ears perk up. Got a tip? Email him at mlargey@kut.org. Follow him on Twitter @mattlargey.
Andrew Weber is a general assignment reporter for KUT, focusing on criminal justice, policing, courts and homelessness in Austin and Travis County. Got a tip? You can email him at aweber@kut.org. Follow him on Twitter @England_Weber.
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