ENVIRONMENT/FLORIDA/SPENDING/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump said during a tour of Lake Okeechobee Friday [3-29-19] that the broad, shallow lake had a ‘lot of problems’ and that the dike-strengthening project around its shore “wasn’t properly funded for years’…White House officials said before the president’s arrival in central Florida that the visit would emphasize the federal partnership with the state. But the trip comes after state officials earlier this month criticized the $63 million Trump requested in the fiscal 2019-20 federal budget for Everglades restoration downstream from Lake Okeechobee for falling short of the funding needed. However, the Republican state leaders at Lake Okeechobee surrounding Trump, including Gov. Ron DeSantis and Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, both Florida Republicans, didn’t mention during the brief press conference that they’d asked for $200 million. DeSantis and Scott are both Trump allies and are pressuring Trump to give Florida — a state that can help decide national elections — more money for Everglades restoration.”
–Bruce Ritchie, “Trump says Lake Okeechobee project ‘was dying until we got involved’,” Politico, March 29, 2019 3:23 pm