White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Monday drew a hard line against quickly blaming the government in the midst of a tragedy – in this case, the deadly floods in Texas.

Mr. Trump said his administration was working with state and local officials and that Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem would be arriving in Texas shortly. DHS oversees the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

In the deadliest natural disaster since the Trump administration's layoffs and buyouts at federal forecasting offices, Texas officials are praising the president and deflecting questions about the possible effect of the cuts.