Border czar Tom Homan says Trump’s response to Texas floods better than Biden’s to Hurricane Helene

Border czar Tom Homan pushed back against critics who blamed the Trump administration’s staffing cuts and response time for the widespread death and destruction caused by the floods in Texas, pointing to the Biden administration’s response to Hurricane Helene.

Speaking with reporters Monday at the White House, Mr. Homan said President Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem responded quickly to the devastation.

“I know even the Border Patrol four-star unit was deployed, and they’re helping the recovery effort. I know Border Patrol air assets are involved. I think Secretary Noem reacted quickly. I mean, thank God President [Joseph R.] Biden is not president, or we’d still be waiting for a response,” he said.

Later, when pressed about the response and shortages of supplies allegedly hampering the rescue effort, Mr. Homan said the media’s first response is to “blame somebody in the Trump administration.”

“Bottom line is, I looked at the response that occurred. It’s a far better, quicker, appropriate response than you would have seen under the Biden administration,” he said.

At least 82 people, including 21 children, have been confirmed dead from the flash floods along the Guadalupe River that began Friday. Authorities are still looking for 10 children and a camp counselor who were unaccounted for as of Monday morning.

Democrats and critics have blasted the Trump administration, saying the cuts at the National Weather Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration left authorities unprepared for the torrential storms. They say the cuts impacted the nation’s flood notification systems, including concerns that weather forecasts underestimated the amount of rain that fell.

Ms. Noem, during a press conference last week, acknowledged the criticism, saying the Trump administration is upgrading the nation’s flood notification technology, which she described as “ancient.”

Still, the criticism has persisted.

“The people in Texas voted for government services controlled by Donald Trump and Greg Abbott. That is exactly what they are getting,” Ron Filipkowski, former federal prosecutor and editor-in-chief of MediasTouch News, posted on X.

The politics of natural disasters have become familiar in recent years. In September, Mr. Biden was blasted by Republicans for working from his beach house in Delaware while the storm-ravaged North Carolina and Georgia.

Mr. Trump was one of his fiercest critics, saying his predecessor should have been in Washington over the weekend and not immediately traveling to the storm-ravaged region. He accused Mr. Biden of “sleeping” on the job.