As devastating floods claim lives in Texas, a reporter asked U.S. President Donald Trump:
“Democrats are blaming your federal cuts for the deaths over in Texas.”
Trump’s response:
“I can’t hear you,” he said,… pic.twitter.com/VQtFVkjCOc
— The Asian Chronicle (@AsianChronicle) July 7, 2025
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But everyone watching could hear the question. So could Trump. The camera caught it clearly. He just did not want to answer.
When asked again later if he planned to investigate how federal cuts to agencies like the National Weather Service and FEMA may have made the disaster worse, Trump shook his head. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick shook his head, too.
“They didn’t,” Trump said. “I’ll tell you: You look at that water situation, that was really the Biden setup. That was not our setup. But I wouldn’t blame Biden for it either; I would just say this is a hundred-year catastrophe, and it’s just so horrible to watch.”
Pressed again about whether the federal government should rehire any of the meteorologists who lost their jobs in the Trump administration’s deep staffing cuts, the president fumbled.
“I wouldn’t know that. I really wouldn’t. I would think not,” he said. “This was a thing that happened in seconds. Nobody expected it, nobody saw it. Very talented people are there and they didn’t see it.”
But that is not true.
The National Weather Service has confirmed that they issued warnings well in advance of the floods.
“Flash Flood Warnings were also issued on the night of July 3 and in the early morning of July 4, giving preliminary lead times of more than three hours before flash flooding conditions occurred,” a spokesperson for the agency told The Daily Beast.
And the National Water Center publicly posted an Area Hydrologic Discussion warning for the Texas Hill Country days before the flood hit.
But Trump would not talk about that.
He only said, “We’re working very close with representatives from Texas. And it’s a horrible thing that took place, absolutely horrible.” He then added that he may visit Texas “probably on Friday,” because he does not want to “get in the way.”
The families of 80 victims are not asking for excuses. They are asking why. They are asking why the systems failed. They are asking who is responsible for the silence. And this weekend, they saw the answer. A president who looked into the camera and said, “I can’t hear you.”
But we all did.
Featured image via Screengrab
