Trump Rushes to Prepare Federal Response to Hurricane Dorian

President Donald Trump scrambled Friday to prepare the federal response to Hurricane Dorian, as forecasts said the storm could slam into Florida as soon as Monday, creating a high-stakes test of the administration’s readiness.

Trump canceled a planned weekend trip to Poland to monitor the storm, which experts warned could reach Category 4 strength and devastate cities along the state’s eastern coast. Aides said the president has received regular updates as Dorian threatens the highly-populated region, which is home to his Mar-a-Lago winter estate and a crucial political base.

On Thursday, emergency officials briefed Trump and Vice President Mike Pence in the Oval Office, using maps to illustrate the possible path of the storm and present an overview of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s operational response.

The president’s social media feeds have promoted warnings from the National Weather Service, and on Thursday Trump cautioned in a White House video the storm was likely to “hit very hard.”

“Hopefully we’ll get lucky, but it looks to me that this time it’s heading in one direction, all indications are it’s going to hit very hard and it’s going to be very big,” Trump said.

Storm Risks

The White House’s efforts underscore the actual and political risks of the storm to the president, who has already come under criticism for his administration’s handling of Hurricane Maria, a deadly Category 5 hurricane that proved catastrophic to Puerto Rico.

Dorian’s track echoes that of Hurricane Andrew, the 1992 hurricane that caused billions in damage and left 65 people dead weeks before former President George H.W. Bush lost his re-election campaign. Bush’s son, former President George W. Bush, saw his political standing crater in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans and surrounding areas.

Trump owns a number of properties in Florida that could face the brunt of the storm. Projections of Dorian’s track currently show the hurricane making landfall near Jupiter, Florida, where Trump owns a golf resort. His Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach is about 20 miles south.

At the Miami resort that the president’s promoted as a potential site for next year’s Group of Seven summit, Trump National Doral, receptionists warned guests on Friday to prepare for power outages in their rooms and limited service. Down by the pool, workers in blue polo shirts and white shorts stacked chaise lounges to get them out of the coming wind.

Key to Re-Election

A botched response to the storm could threaten Trump’s standing in Florida, which is key to his re-election hopes. The president won the state -- which voted twice for Barack Obama -- by just over one percentage point, and a loss in 2020 would severely complicate his path to remain in the White House.

Trump on Friday declared a state of emergency in Florida after lawmakers representing the state asked for the designation before the storm hits.

“Preparation has proven to be critical in protecting property and the public health and safety of potential victims of the storm,” said the letter signed by every member of the state’s congressional delegation.

Trump has at times struggled in the role of consoler-in-chief after natural disasters. He was criticized for tossing paper towels into a crowd of Puerto Rican victims of Hurricane Maria. And the staff of the Late Show with Stephen Colbert published a children’s book, “Whose Boat Is This Boat?” mocking remarks Trump made in hurricane-stricken North Carolina last year.

But the president has defended his handling of the Puerto Rico storm by blaming local officials for poor conditions on the island. And the administration was largely lauded for the federal response to tornadoes that killed 23 people in Alabama earlier this year and for securing emergency funds for Texas in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.

“Puerto Rico is one of the most corrupt places on earth,” Trump tweeted earlier this week as Dorian threatened to hit the island, only to shift direction. “Their political system is broken and their politicians are either Incompetent or Corrupt. Congress approved Billions of Dollars last time, more than anyplace else has ever gotten, and it is sent to Crooked Pols. No good!”

Trump went on to call himself “the best thing that’s ever happened to Puerto Rico.”

Trump may also come under criticism for his administration’s plans to use $271 million allocated for disaster aid efforts for a program requiring asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their cases are reviewed in the U.S.

Democrats have expressed concern over the plan, which includes $155 million diverted from FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund.

FEMA has said the transfer would not impact the current pool of funding for ongoing recovery efforts and that the agency had enough to sustain current operations, and that the government had around $27 billion available to support communities impacted by previous disasters. The administration may seek additional supplemental funding depending on the severity of Dorian’s impact.