President Donald Trump said on Monday he would talk with Congress about how to fund what will be a very expensive recovery from Hurricane Harvey as deadlines loom on the U.S. budget and federal debt ceiling.
It is unclear how the hurricane relief will impact budget talks in Washington. Trump has threatened a government shutdown over the budget unless lawmakers include funding for his proposed border wall with Mexico.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump lauded the efforts by Texans to extract storm victims from flooded areas of Houston and beyond after record amounts of rainfall from Hurricane Harvey.
“We’re dealing with Congress. As you know it’s going to be a very expensive situation,” said Trump.
Trump will visit Texas on Tuesday. He said he might return on Saturday and could stop in Louisiana where the storm is now dumping rain.
Trump, who has presided over a number of Cabinet meetings to help coordinate the federal response, said “things are being handled very well” and he hailed the relief effort.
“It is a historic amount of water. There’s never been anything like it. So the people are handling it amazingly well and the people of Texas as you know have really persevered. And when you watch the spirit and the enthusiasm and helping each other and the teamwork, it’s really been something,” he said.