Over the weekend, President Donald Trump appeared to deflect reporters’ questions on the deadly flash floods in central Texas last week, including a question on whether his administration’s cuts to the National Weather Service (NWS) affected preparedness levels in the region.

As of Monday morning, more than 80 deaths across six Texas counties have been documented, while dozens reportedly remain missing. In Kerr County alone, 40 adults and 28 children have been killed by the catastrophic flooding, including 27 campers and counselors at a popular youth campsite.

On Sunday, while taking questions from reporters, Trump claimed that he had difficulty hearing a reporter who had started asking a question about cuts to the NWS.

“Democrats are blaming your federal cuts for the deaths over in Texas,” the reporter began her question to Trump, shouting loud enough to be heard.

Despite the reporter’s volume — and the fact that he was able to understand other reporters’ questions beforehand — Trump responded by saying, “I can’t hear you.” He then waved off the reporter, shifting his attention to another journalist at the presser.

Later, another reporter asked about cuts to the NWS, questioning whether the Trump administration’s actions hampered warnings to people in central Texas affected by the floodings.

“They didn’t,” Trump said matter-of-factly.

The president also appeared to place some blame on his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, though he walked back that blame just seconds later.

“You look at that water situation, that was really the Biden setup,” Trump said. “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.”

Trump has similarly blamed Democratic leaders for water systems detrimentally contributing to natural disasters in the past, citing no evidence.

Trump also pushed back on the idea that the federal government should rehire meteorologists that his “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) has terminated or pushed out.

“I wouldn’t know that. I really wouldn’t. I would think not,” he said, further claiming that “nobody expected” the flooding to happen.

In fact, despite its limited resources, the NWS issued warnings about the Texas floods hours before they occurred.

Some experts have suggested that staffing shortages at the agency prompted by DOGE’s cuts hindered forecasters’ abilities to effectively warn people in the region, as several NWS sites in Texas lack key personnel.

In San Angelo, Texas, for instance, the NWS office does not have a senior hydrologist, a staff forecaster, or even a top meteorologist. In San Antonio, the NWS office lacks a warning coordination meteorologist and a science officer.

Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) has said that it’s worth examining whether cuts to the NWS worsened the devastating floods.

“I don’t think it’s helpful to have missing key personnel from the [NWS] not in place to help prevent these tragedies,” Castro said in an interview on CNN, adding that the situation “should be investigated.”

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