Washington — President Trump and first lady Melania Trump are heading to Central Texas on Friday to survey the devastation wrought by last week’s deadly flooding, as first responders and family members continue their search for the missing. 

The Trumps will speak with local officials and first responders in Kerrville, Texas, as the death toll stands at 121, according to local law enforcement and Gov. Greg Abbott. More than 170 people are still missing after flash floods consumed the region in the early morning of July 4. Drones, rescue teams and volunteers are combing through debris, hoping to find answers for the families of the missing. The majority of the confirmed deaths took place in Kerr County, where the Trumps are visiting. 

At Camp Mystic, a girls’ summer camp with cabins along the river in a rural part of Kerr County near Hunt, at least 27 campers and counselors died in what the camp described as “catastrophic flooding.” Some survivors said they woke up to water rushing through the windows. 

The Trumps are expected to touch down in Texas around 1:20 p.m. ET. They’ll survey the recovery efforts and participate in a roundtable with officials and rescue workers. Mr. Trump told reporters they’ll meet some of the families as well. The Trumps are scheduled to spend about three hours in Texas before leaving for Bedminster, New Jersey. 

“It’s a horrible thing, a horrible thing,” the president told reporters Friday before leaving the White House. “Nobody can even believe it. That much water, that fast.” 

Mr. Trump has thus far avoided assigning blame for the deaths, saying on Sunday, “I would just say this is a hundred-year catastrophe, and it’s just so horrible to watch.” 

The president said he would have visited Central Texas sooner but didn’t want to be “in their way” as rescuers continue their work. Mr. Trump has signed a disaster declaration for the region, allowing the Federal Emergency Management Agency to deploy its own teams to support local rescue and recovery efforts as those operations press on.

After the catastrophic flooding, the first lady wrote on X, “My heart goes out to the parents in Texas during this difficult time. I am holding you in my thoughts and sending prayers for strength, comfort, and resilience.”

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State Sen. Angela Paxton announced Thursday she has filed for divorce from her husband, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

“I believe marriage is a sacred covenant and I have earnestly pursued reconciliation,” Angela Paxton, R-McKinney, said in a post on X. “But in light of recent discoveries, I do not believe that it honors God or is loving to myself, my children, or Ken to remain in the marriage.”

In her divorce filing, Senator Paxton alleged that her husband had committed adultery, listing it as the “grounds for divorce.” The couple stopped living together more than a year ago — “on or about June 1, 2024” — according to a copy of the filing obtained by The Texas Tribune.

In his own statement, Attorney General Paxton cited the “pressures of countless political attacks and public scrutiny” as the reason the couple had “decided to start a new chapter.”

Attorney General Paxton is currently running against U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in next year’s Republican primary, after close to a decade as attorney general. Senator Paxton was elected in 2019 to represent the North Texas Senate district that her husband represented before his elevation to statewide office. She was reelected to another four-year term in November.

Paxton’s record of aggressively suing the Biden administration is matched only by his penchant for scandal, culminating in his impeachment by the Texas House of Representatives in 2023. The Republican-controlled Senate acquitted him after a nearly two-week trial.

Angela Paxton attended her husband’s trial but was not allowed to vote on any issues or participate on deliberations over whether to convict or acquit.

The impeachment claims focused on benefits Paxton provided to Austin real estate developer Nate Paul, as well as an alleged extramarital affair the attorney general had with a former Senate aide. According to investigators, the affair ended briefly in 2019 after Angela Paxton learned of it, then resumed in 2020. The woman he allegedly had an affair with was called to testify before the Senate and came to the chamber, but left without speaking.

Ken Paxton has weathered several political and legal scandals since his impeachment acquittal. Last year, prosecutors agreed to drop a nine-year-old felony securities fraud case against him. He has also closed the door on a federal investigation into corruption allegations his former aides lodged with the FBI and overcome a State Bar of Texas attempt to sanction him over his move to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Paxton has yet to see any of his legal troubles spill over to the ballot box, twice winning reelection amid pending scandal. Still, the divorce filing threatens to disrupt his bid for U.S. Senate by playing into Cornyn’s attacks on his spotty ethics record.

The news could also complicate Paxton’s active efforts to win the endorsement of President Donald Trump, whose stamp of approval could help decide the primary. Trump discussed the race Wednesday night with Senate Majority Leader John Thune and operatives from the Senate GOP’s top super PAC, Punchbowl News reported.

This story will be updated.

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