As Biden Dispatches Disaster Relief to East Palestine, Trump Takes Credit

The former president will visit the town struck by a toxic train derailment.

Gene J. Puskar/AP

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

On Friday evening, Donald Trump Jr. tweeted the “breaking” news that father would visit East Palestine, Ohio, next week, in the wake of the train derailment there whose aftermath has cloaked the region in a toxic cloud, killed thousands of fish, and required the evacuation of residents who fear longterm health risks. 

On Saturday, the former president himself claimed, with no evidence, that news of his planned visit had prompted the Biden administration to finally send a disaster relief team to the beleaguered city. 

 

There had been some back and forth between Ohio’s republican governor, Mike DeWine, and federal officials about the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s involvement. Many other federal agencies have worked with the state after the derailment, particularly the EPA, whose head visited East Palestine last week. But as DeWine told a Friday morning press conference, FEMA is “most typically involved with disasters where there is tremendous home or property damage,” say floods or hurricanes, explaining that “is why we do not expect that FEMA will come to East Palestine.” But by the evening, DeWine announced he had learned that FEMA had reversed course—just as news of Trump’s plans spread.

The timing couldn’t have been better for the former president, whose allies rushed to claim his appearance had prompted action. While Democrats, including Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, have blamed Trump for contributing to the train disaster because his administration withdrew an Obama-era regulation that required better brakes for trains hauling flammable material, the Biden administration’s slow response to the disaster in East Palestine has provided an opening for Republicans.

Ohio’s 17 electoral votes are vital for Republicans seeking the White House. Trump has struggled in recent polls gauging GOP contenders for the 2024 nomination, with some showing him trailing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, as new candidates like former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley line up to run against him in the primary.

Even before his father announced plans to visit East Palestine, Don Jr. had been tweeting about the 141-car Norfolk Southern train derailment, writing on Friday, “Maybe if the people of East Palestine Ohio pretend they’re Palestinians from the Middle East the Biden administration will actually pay some attention to them and send them aid.”

The MAGA echo chamber was elated by Trump’s announcement, with everyone from conservative members of Congress to conservative influencers and media outlets highlighting the timing of the FEMA news and cheering Trump’s leadership.

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE ON MOTHER JONES' FINANCES

We need to start being more upfront about how hard it is keeping a newsroom like Mother Jones afloat these days.

Because it is, and because we're fresh off finishing a fiscal year, on June 30, that came up a bit short of where we needed to be. And this next one simply has to be a year of growth—particularly for donations from online readers to help counter the brutal economics of journalism right now.

Straight up: We need this pitch, what you're reading right now, to start earning significantly more donations than normal. We need people who care enough about Mother Jones’ journalism to be reading a blurb like this to decide to pitch in and support it if you can right now.

Urgent, for sure. But it's not all doom and gloom!

Because over the challenging last year, and thanks to feedback from readers, we've started to see a better way to go about asking you to support our work: Level-headedly communicating the urgency of hitting our fundraising goals, being transparent about our finances, challenges, and opportunities, and explaining how being funded primarily by donations big and small, from ordinary (and extraordinary!) people like you, is the thing that lets us do the type of journalism you look to Mother Jones for—that is so very much needed right now.

And it's really been resonating with folks! Thankfully. Because corporations, powerful people with deep pockets, and market forces will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. Only people like you will.

There's more about our finances in "News Never Pays," or "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," and we'll have details about the year ahead for you soon. But we already know this: The fundraising for our next deadline, $350,000 by the time September 30 rolls around, has to start now, and it has to be stronger than normal so that we don't fall behind and risk coming up short again.

Please consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

—Monika Bauerlein, CEO, and Brian Hiatt, Online Membership Director

payment methods

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE ON MOTHER JONES' FINANCES

We need to start being more upfront about how hard it is keeping a newsroom like Mother Jones afloat these days.

Because it is, and because we're fresh off finishing a fiscal year, on June 30, that came up a bit short of where we needed to be. And this next one simply has to be a year of growth—particularly for donations from online readers to help counter the brutal economics of journalism right now.

Straight up: We need this pitch, what you're reading right now, to start earning significantly more donations than normal. We need people who care enough about Mother Jones’ journalism to be reading a blurb like this to decide to pitch in and support it if you can right now.

Urgent, for sure. But it's not all doom and gloom!

Because over the challenging last year, and thanks to feedback from readers, we've started to see a better way to go about asking you to support our work: Level-headedly communicating the urgency of hitting our fundraising goals, being transparent about our finances, challenges, and opportunities, and explaining how being funded primarily by donations big and small, from ordinary (and extraordinary!) people like you, is the thing that lets us do the type of journalism you look to Mother Jones for—that is so very much needed right now.

And it's really been resonating with folks! Thankfully. Because corporations, powerful people with deep pockets, and market forces will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. Only people like you will.

There's more about our finances in "News Never Pays," or "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," and we'll have details about the year ahead for you soon. But we already know this: The fundraising for our next deadline, $350,000 by the time September 30 rolls around, has to start now, and it has to be stronger than normal so that we don't fall behind and risk coming up short again.

Please consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

—Monika Bauerlein, CEO, and Brian Hiatt, Online Membership Director

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate