Hundreds of emails released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Weather Service highlighted the frustration caused by President Trump’s response to Hurricane Dorian.
In September, Dorian was making its way toward the east coast of the United States when Trump, 73, called on people in several states to heed warnings from meteorologists. The president included Alabama in the list of states, which was not accurate at the time his tweet was sent.
In addition to Florida – South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama, will most likely be hit (much) harder than anticipated. Looking like one of the largest hurricanes ever. Already category 5. BE CAREFUL! GOD BLESS EVERYONE!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 1, 2019
In a press conference later that week, Trump doubled down on his inclusion of Alabama in the path of the hurricane by drawing a loop around the state in black marker in a scandal that became known as “Sharpiegate.” The doctored map outraged many at NOAA and the NWS.
Their frustration was displayed in hundreds of emails obtained by Buzzfeed. In one email, Craig McLean, who was the agency’s assistant administrator at the time, wrote, “What concerns me most is that this Administration is eroding the public trust in NOAA for an apparent political recovery from an ill timed and imprecise comment from the President.”
McLean called the situation “serious” and demanded that storm updates not be subject to review by any public affairs departments. Another email revealed panic within the agency on the day that Trump held up the doctored map. Dennis Feltgen, an agency spokesman, forwarded a series of emails from ABC News demanding answers on the doctored map with the word: “HELP!!!”
Julie Roberts, NOAA’s deputy chief of staff, said she was praying that the ordeal would blow over during the weekend, writing, “I pray this thing dies off by morning or we just continue to say ‘call the WH.’”
Others called Trump’s behavior “crazy” and claimed that some of the employees within the NWS did “fear retribution” for disagreeing with the president. Following the scandal, Neil Jacobs, the acting director of NOAA, announced that no one would be fired because of the controversy.
Hurricane Dorian killed dozens in the Bahamas before skirting the U.S.
