A reporter from CBS News Texas asked the president Friday if more lives could've been saved if emergency alerts were issued earlier.

"It’s hard to believe the devastation," Trump said. "Trees that are 100 years old just ripped out of the ground. I've never seen anything like this, and I've seen a lot of bad ones."

When a reporter asked Trump about concerns from Hill Country residents about the lack of warnings before the Guadalupe River’s rapid rise, the president sharply called the reporter “evil.”

Joined by first lady Melania Trump and officials, Trump surveyed the devastation and met with victims' families and emergency responders.

More than 2,100 searchers from a dozen Texas Counties, other states and Mexico are continuing recovery efforts to find more victims of the deadly flash flooding in central Texas.

While he’s been in communities after hurricanes and tornadoes, President Trump said the devastation he saw after an aerial tour of the flood-ravaged Texas Hill Country on Friday was different.

As President Trump surveys flood damage in Texas, several congressional Democrats have signed a letter demanding an oversight hearing into his administration’s response. One of them, Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas),

In early July 2025, a screenshot claimed to show a real Truth Social post by U.S. President Donald Trump calling on people to forget the "Epstein files" and focus on the "beautiful young girls" who died in the Texas flash floods over the Fourth of July. Per the screenshot, Trump wrote: