EAST PALESTINE, Ohio (NewsNation) — Former President Donald Trump announced he will visit the East Palestine community Wednesday, planning to meet with residents and local leaders as they deal with the aftermath of dangerous chemical burn-offs from the toxic train derailment in Ohio.
The former president is also expected to tour the derailment site, observing the impact of the accident and chemical release.
His son, Donald Trump Jr., initially made the announcement last Friday on Twitter, saying that his father would visit Ohio sometime this week.
“If our “leaders” are too afraid to actually lead real leaders will step up and fill the void,” Trump Jr. wrote in his tweet.
Trump backed the announcement, posting on his own social media site on Saturday. He called out the Biden administration for not taking action at the federal level sooner.
Initially, FEMA was not called in for support. Now it is.
Trump posted on Truth Social claiming that his visit is what triggered FEMA to finally step in, influencing President Joe Biden, who has not yet visited East Palestine, to send federal aid to the community.
“This is good news because we got them to ‘move.’ The people of East Palestine need help. I’ll see you on Wednesday!” Trump posted on Saturday.
However, both Democrats and Republicans have been critical of the federal government’s handling of this disaster.
Former Ohio Senate Democratic Minority Leader Capri Cafaro told NewsNation that she expects former Trump will be received well during his visit due to his significant success in Columbiana County, Ohio, where East Palestine is located, especially since there has been a lack of response from the Biden administration.
“It’s easy for a challenger to come in and say ‘I would do this better.’ But because Trump has already been in office, he does have a record that he needs to answer to, or at least it’s something that people can compare to,” Cafaro said.
However, Cafaro wasn’t sure how residents would respond to Trump regarding his decision to repeal the watered-down 2014 rules on hazardous materials being transported by freight rail that were put in place under the Obama administration.
Ahead of his visit, East Palestine schools have been closed, NewsNation affiliate WKBN reported. The decision was made so that heightened security measures can be put in place. The school said street closures would affect students’ commute.
The former president’s visit comes as Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine tried to assure residents they are safe, drinking a glass of water at a home near the derailment site, despite growing contamination concerns.
DeWine joined the EPA administrator Michael Regan on a visit to a resident’s home and drank a glass of water, saying testing revealed the local water is safe.
DeWine spoke with NewsNation one-on-one, here’s what he said:
“I understand skepticism,” DeWine said. “I understand that people are concerned, and they have every right to be concerned. This is a traumatic event that has occurred in this community, something they’ve never experienced before, few villages have, few cities have. So they have a right to be skeptical.”
The governor added: “We have a commitment to the people of East Palestine; we’re going to be here for the long run.”
The EPA previously identified at least four chemicals that were on board the train: vinyl chloride, ethylene glycol monobutyl ether, ethylhexyl acrylate and isobutylene.
DeWine’s assurance comes as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a major step toward holding the involved train company — Norfolk Southern — responsible, saying the company will have to clean up the site and pay for all costs linked to it.
If the company doesn’t follow the legally binding order to the EPA’s liking, the agency will make it pay three times the amount required to clean up.
Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg also said for the first time that he will visit East Palestine at the appropriate time. He and the Biden administration have come under fire for not making an earlier, more visible response to the disaster.
Biden has not said if he’ll make a visit to East Palestine, but the town’s mayor said he was welcome after criticizing Biden for visiting Ukraine this week.
However, Biden made five calls from Warsaw to receive updates on the EPA’s latest actions to hold Norfolk Southern accountable, in addition to receiving updates on the situation on the ground in East Palestine.
In the calls to Regan, DeWine, Gov. Josh Shapiro, Rep. Bill Johnson and Sen. Sherrod Brown, Biden reaffirmed his continued commitment to ensuring that communities impacted by the Norfolk Southern derailment have the full support of the federal government.
NewsNation’s Allison Harris and NewsNation affiliate WKBN contributed to this report.