3/28/2019

ENVIRONMENT/FLORIDA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “President Donald Trump will tour troubled Lake Okeechobee by air on Friday [3-29-19] and meet with state and local officials to highlight the administration’s work with Florida on dike repairs. The White House will tout state-federal partnerships on environmental funding, offering Florida as an example of how high-dollar projects can be expedited if states are willing to invest, a senior administration official told reporters Thursday [3-28-19] night. Trump arrives at the lake, a shallow water body that flows into the famed River of Grass — the endangered Everglades — as Florida lawmakers in Washington and Tallahassee, Republicans and Democrats, fight to secure more federal funding for the site‘s restoration. Lake flow and discharges last year were blamed for choking coastal areas and contributing to algae blooms that closed beaches and scared away tourists. Trump will tour the lake aboard Marine One before landing along the dike to meet with officials. The president will be joined by Gov. Ron DeSantis and Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, all Republicans. The administration agreed to accelerate Lake Okeechobee dike repairs last year after Scott, as governor, received $100 million from the Legislature to speed up the federal project.”

Bruce Ritchie, “Trump visit to Lake Okeechobee to stress partnership,” Politico, March 28, 2019 7:28 pm