Donald Trump, who rolled back rail safety regulations and slashed environmental protections, donates Trump-branded water to East Palestine residents
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Donald Trump visited East Palestine, Ohio, on Wednesday, following a disastrous prepare derailment.
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The 2024 Republican candidate donated pallets of Trump-branded water to residents.
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Trump’s go to raised questions on his administration’s rollback of rail security rules.
Donald Trump introduced his 2024 presidential marketing campaign to East Palestine, Ohio, on Wednesday, almost three weeks after a cataclysmic prepare derailment prompted an environmental catastrophe within the small city following the discharge of poisonous chemical compounds.
The previous president’s go to to the northeastern village preempted Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s arrival by at some point, and Trump relished each alternative to castigate his Democratic successors, saying Buttigieg “ought to have already been right here,” and commanding President Joe Biden to “recover from right here,” in response to native reviews.
Whereas assuring East Palestine residents that they’d “not been forgotten,” Trump managed to tout his personal presence within the besieged neighborhood and brush off questions on his administration’s famous historical past of rolling again rules on each rail security and dangerous chemical compounds.
Trump began his day by briefly visiting with native leaders, in response to WKBN-27, earlier than conducting a small press convention at a fireplace station, the place, donning his signature “Make America Nice Once more” hat, he handed out a flurry of purple baseball caps to attendees.
Throughout his speech, Trump pledged to donate hundreds of bottles of cleansing provides, in addition to pallets of Trump-branded water bottles to members of the neighborhood, a lot of whom have expressed continued concern over the protection of the city’s water provide following the derailment.
“You wanna get these Trump bottles, I believe, greater than anyone else,” Trump said, whereas flanked by state and native leaders, together with Republican Sen. JD Vance.
The previous president dismissed questions on his administration’s rollback of Obama-era rail security rules saying he “had nothing to do with it.”
The Trump administration slashed a number of environmental and rail rules whereas in workplace, most notably rescinding a 2015 proposal to require quicker brakes on trains that have been carrying extremely flammable or hazardous supplies.
The Norfolk Southern Railroad Firm freight prepare concerned on this month’s crash was carrying vinyl chloride, a colorless fuel and identified carcinogen, which produced a plume of smoke over East Palestine.
The Division of Transportation beneath Trump justified the rollback with a 2018 evaluation arguing the price of requiring such brakes can be “considerably greater” than the anticipated advantages of the replace.
A spokesperson for Trump didn’t instantly reply to Insider’s request for remark.
Following his Wednesday information convention, Trump visited an area Ohio McDonald’s the place he handed out extra MAGA hats and acquired meals for firefighters.
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