A summer filled with few high notes for the Trump administration is ending on the lowest note yet: Thousands of Americans remain displaced from their homes or without power in the wake of back-to-back hurricanes that pummeled two of the top four most populated U.S. states.
But amid the destruction left behind by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, some say President Trump has flourished.
Following the president’s return to Washington after his visit to Florida, where he and the first lady passed out hoagie sandwiches to families still grappling with the damage to their neighborhoods and homes, a source close to the president told the Washington Examiner that Trump “looked like the leader Americans have been wanting to see.”
“And I don’t mean to suggest he was faking it or playing to his crowd,” the source said, adding that Trump seemed “genuinely emotional” about the devastation in a state he carried last November and where he spent so much of his time during the earliest months of his presidency.
“I know he enjoyed being down there and wants to go back,” the source said.
Thursday’s trip to Fort Myers and Naples, Fla., was markedly different from the president’s visit to Corpus Christi, Texas, last month, where he described Harvey as “murderous” and “epic” and told first responders “nobody has ever seen this much water.”
Trump was ridiculed after his initial visit for commenting on the size of a crowd that had gathered outside a fire station where he waved a Texas flag and thanked Republican Gov. Greg Abbott for his leadership in the wake of the Category 4 storm.
“What a crowd. What a turnout,” a windbreaker-clad Trump had said.
“So far, he hasn’t displayed a lot of skill at displaying empathy. And that’s a problem,” Matt Latimer, a former aide to President George W. Bush, told the Washington Post after Trump’s first trip to the Lone Star State to tour the damage caused by Harvey.
But by the time Trump visited Florida, which came days after he returned to Texas a second time, the locals were gushing about his warmness and eagerness to help.
“They’re everything I thought they would be,” a woman in Naples told the New York Times after Trump pet her Chihuahua and complimented her “Bikers for Trump” t-shirt.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott had praised Trump days before his arrival, telling reporters that the president “has given me everything I’ve asked for.”
Trump rapidly stepped up to the task of coordinating with local and state officials before, during and after both hurricanes made landfall, and later ensured they had the resources necessary to carry out search-and-rescue missions and provide shelter for thousands of evacuees.
And the latest presidential approval ratings seem to reflect the mostly positive responses Trump has drawn while navigating two natural disasters.
Thirty-nine percent of Americans approved of the job Trump is doing in a Marist poll released Friday, marking a 4-point increase since last month and matching the highest rating he last received three months into his presidency.
According to the same survey, 55 percent of respondents said they approve of how Trump has dealt with the back-to-back hurricanes, compared to 25 percent who said they disapprove of the way he has responded.
Additionally, the president’s approval rating in Gallup’s daily tracking poll appears to have evened out after dipping to 34 percent in the wake of his controversial response to the violence last month in Charlottesville, Va. His approval rating now stands at 37 percent.
There will be ample opportunities for the president to return to old habits in the weeks that lie ahead, as congressional Republicans gear up for tax reform and battles over healthcare and government spending. One tweet could send his approval rating back down to the low 30s.
But if Trump can exercise continued restraint and balance his tough talk with empathy for those affected by Harvey and Irma, the presidential pivot so many have been hoping for may finally prove permanent.
