By JILL COLVIN and JOHN SEEWER
EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday criticized the federal response to the toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, as a “betrayal” during a visit to the village where residents and local leaders are increasingly frustrated more than two weeks after the disaster.
Trump, wearing his trademark red “Make America Great Again” cap and an overcoat, said the community needs “answers and results,” not excuses. He spoke at a firehouse roughly half a mile from where more than three dozen freight cars — including 11 carrying hazardous materials — came off the tracks near the Pennsylvania state line.
“In too many cases, your goodness and perseverance were met with indifference and betrayal,” Trump said. He appeared with Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, Mayor Trent Conaway and other state and local leaders, giving the visit the look of an official trip.
The former president and other Republicans have intensified criticism of the Biden administration’s handling of the Feb. 3 derailment, which led to evacuations and fears of air and water contamination after a controlled burning of toxic chemicals aboard the rail cars. The Biden administration, meanwhile, has blasted Trump and other Republicans for loosening rail safety measures and environmental protections when Republicans were in charge in Washington — though there is no evidence that having them in place now would have prevented what happened in East Palestine.
The trip offered Trump, who is running for the White House in 2024, an opportunity to reprise the role he often held as president, when he surveyed disaster damage and met with impacted residents following tragic events. He said he would donate cleaning supplies along with pallets of what he said was Trump-branded bottled water to residents who remain concerned about the quality of their drinking water.
Trump seized on Biden’s decision to make a surprise visit to Ukraine this…
Read the full article here
