HURRICANE/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump on Tuesday [9-11-18] said his administration is ‘absolutely totally prepared’ to respond to Hurricane Florence, while also granting a state of emergency in the states expected to be most severely impacted by the Category 4 storm later this week. The comment comes as Trump has taken a proactive stance to show the federal government is well positioned to deal with the dangerous storm after receiving heavy criticism for its sluggish response to Hurricane Maria last September. The official death toll from that storm has hit nearly 3,000 — a dramatic increase from the earlier official count of 64…Trump’s campaign has also been aware of the optics risk around the storm, and on Tuesday canceled a second rally that had been scheduled for later in the week, citing safety concerns. Trump had planned on holding rallies in Missouri and Mississippi, as he ratchets up his travel ahead of the midterms.”
–Matthew Choi, “Trump says his government is ‘absolutely totally prepared’ for Hurricane Florence,” Politico, September 11, 2018 10:46 am