Former president Donald Trump will visit East Palestine, Ohio next week, according to his son, who said that if leaders in Washington are “too afraid” to see the aftermath of the train derailment and toxic chemical spill with their own eyes, then “real leaders” will do so.
Don Trump Jr. made the announcement in a post on Twitter.
“Breaking News: Trump will visit East Palestine, Ohio next week. If our ‘leaders’ are too afraid to actually lead real leaders will step up and fill the void,” he wrote.
The visit from the 45th president to East Palestine comes as the Biden administration faces criticism for what some are calling a slow response to the Feb. 3 derailment of a train carrying toxic chemicals.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg didn’t address the incident until ten days after the train derailed in a fiery crash that sent a black cloud into the air over East Palestine from burning vinyl chloride.
‘Trump Effect’
The Biden administration said Ohio train derailment doesn’t meet legal requirements for FEMA disaster declaration
On the same day that Trump Jr. announced that the former president would visit the derailment site, the Biden administration said it had “mobilized a robust, multi-agency effort to support” residents of East Palestine.
George Papadopoulos, a former member of a foreign policy advisory panel to Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, linked the Biden administration’s decision to provide FEMA aid to the former president’s decision to visit the site.
“Trump announces he is visiting East Palestine. Up until that moment, Biden allocated exactly $0 in emergency relief to its affected population. One hour later? FEMA declares they are sending federal resources,” Papadopoulos wrote in a tweet.
“That’s the Trump effect. America first, always!” he added.
