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By Katelyn Caralle, U.S. Political Reporter For Dailymail.Com In East Palestine, Ohio
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<span class="date">19:49 22 Feb 2023, upgraded 22:44 22 Feb 2023</span>
Donald Trump informed locals of East Palestine they are victims of ‘betrayal’ by President Biden and the federal government, and said his see lastly triggered them to act throughout a trip of the hazardous train derailment website on Wednesday.
The previous president welcomed crowds furious at the absence of action from the White House, 19 days after the catastrophe in Ohio, and generated countless bottles of his own water, cleaning up products and canned food.
He then stopped at a regional McDonald’s where he bought Big Macs for very first responders and members of his group, and given out signed MAGA hats to the consumers.
‘I understand this menu much better than you do. I most likely understand it much better than anyone in here,’ he informed the server and required they ‘knock it out quick’ so he might consume it on the aircraft.
Hundreds of individuals lined the streets waving MAGA flags and shouting ‘no more Joe’ to welcome Trump after he landed in the neighborhood on his refurbished Trump Force One jet.
In a speech in the regional fire department he applauded the reaction from police and the ‘strength and nerve’ of the locals, and said: ‘You are not forgotten’.
He guaranteed to return if the neighborhood didn’t get help from the White House and when a press reporter asked what message he had for Biden, Trump said: ‘Get over here’.
His see accompanied Norfolk Southern launching a declaration stating they would take ‘complete obligation’ for the derailment and Pete Buttigieg verifying he’ll go to the website on Thursday.
But locals of East Palestine feel that a see at this moment from Biden or Buttigieg would be mostly worthless.
‘It’s a little too late,’ East Palestine local William Hugar, 56, informed DailyMail.com while consuming breakfast at a regional restaurant when asked if Biden need to go to.
‘Like he can come, however for what?’ he questioned.
‘We stand with you,’ Trump informed the crowd at the East Palestine Fire Department, ‘we wish you, and we’ll stick with you in your battle to help address and [get] responsibility that you should have.’
‘Biden and FEMA said they would not send out federal help to [the town] under any scenarios,’ Trump declared. ‘We opened the dam, and we got them to move,’ he said describing his see the Biden administration has actually declared is a media event.
The crowds lined the streets and some shouted ‘no more Joe’ as they waited for the arrival of the previous president.
He given out products consisting of water to the locals throughout the see along with Republican Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio, who has actually led the reaction to the White House’s absence of reaction to the catastrophe in the town of 4,700.
‘We’re bringing countless bottles of water – Trump Water, really. Most of it. Some of it we needed to go to a much lower quality water, you wish to get those Trump bottles,’ he said in his speech.
Trump likewise satisfied East Palestine Mayor Trent Conway, who said previously today that Biden’s secret journey to Ukraine was a ‘slap in the face’ to his constituents.
Republicans rage that Biden has actually not gone to Ohio, or a minimum of released Pete Buttigieg to survey the damage and consult with regional leaders about how the administration can help.
Buttigieg has actually said he will go to the website – beside the border with Pennsylvania and about 35 minutes from Pittsburgh – on Thursday.
He had actually declared he did not wish to go to simply for the sake of a photo-op, which he recommended Trump is doing.
On February 3, a Norfolk Southern freight train thwarted and launched big quantities of hazardous chemicals into the air, water and ground, requiring evacuations as locals feared for their health. Some suffered headaches and other signs.
On February 16, Michael S. Regan, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, took a trip to the derailment website to thank very first responders for their work and ensure that the EPA would have ‘boots on the ground’ throughout the clean-up procedure.
‘We hear you. We see you. We will get to the bottom of this,’ he said. ‘All households require to understand that they are safe. All households should have access to tidy air and safe drinking water.’
Biden’s journey to Ukraine and Poland today triggered an outcry with Republicans requiring responses regarding why he went to Eastern Europe prior to dealing with problems back at home initially.
The president finally broke his silence on the derailment with a Twitter thread on Tuesday following his speech in Poland lambasting Russia and its President Vladimir Putin. He made five calls Tuesday evening from Warsaw, Poland.
The president noted that he spoke with Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, Ohio Rep. Bill Johnson, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, and Ohio Governor Mike DeWine.
‘I reaffirmed my commitment to making sure they have everything they need,’ Biden wrote in a thread posted to his official Twitter Tuesday evening.
He noted that the EPA ordered Norfolk Southern, the train owner and operator, to fund the clean-up efforts and disposal of the runoff and burn off of hazardous materials.
‘This is common sense. This is their mess. They should clean it up,’ Biden wrote.
Biden also blamed the disaster on his predecessor, saying that Trump implemented policies that made it hard to strengthen and enforce rail safety.
‘For years, elected officials – including the last admin – have limited our ability to implement and strengthen rail safety measures,’ Biden wrote. ‘Heck, many of the elected officials pointing fingers right now want to dismantle the EPA – the agency that is making sure this clean-up happens.’
‘I want affected residents to know that we’ve got your back,’ Biden insisted. ‘And as I said to your govs, they’ll have every resource that they need.’
East Palestine Mayor Trent Conaway, however, isn’t convinced Biden is committed to helping his community – instead saying he is ‘furious’ that Biden chose to visit Ukraine this week before coming to Ohio.
East Palestine is still reeling from the fiery 50-car derailment aftermath, and Conway says Biden’s refusal to focus on domestic issues and instead parade around in the war-torn Eastern European country was a ‘slap in the face.’
Buttigieg, however, downplayed the need for an administration official to come survey the damage and visit the community disrupted by the toxic crash.
He also suggested that Trump’s trip to Ohio on Wednesday is just a photo-op as part of his 2024 campaign.
Trump announced November 15 his third run for the White House. He has not held many public events since announcing his bid during a rally at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida.
Last month he visited early primary contest states of New Hampshire and South Carolina for campaign events that were much more intimate than the usual massive Trump rallies.
Biden’s team has repeatedly blamed Trump for the derailment while refusing to do much to get boots on the ground to address the issue as the public calls for a visit from the president to the community.
It’s true that some policies were implemented during Trump’s presidency that affected rail safety, including withdrawing an Obama-era proposal that required more swift brakes on trains carrying highly flammable materials. He also ended regular railroad safety audits.
‘Our team is working in lockstep with state and regional officials and were on the ground hours after the train derailed,’ Biden assured.
He said that the EPA has already screened more than 500 homes in the area and is ‘monitoring air and water quality.’
The administration also deployed Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) chemical assessment personnel and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) resources to East Palestine.
‘The Department of Transportation has made clear to rail companies that their pattern of resisting safety regulations has got to change,’ Biden wrote in his Twitter thread Tuesday night.’
‘Congress should join us in implementing rail safety measures.’