Furious Hawaiians greeted President Joe Biden with signs telling him to go home and demanding more federal disaster relief as the 80-year-old and his wife toured the island of Maui 13 days after devastating wildfires.
The route of the president's motorcade was lined with people holding their thumbs down, with some waving Trump 2024 flags. On person had written a sign contrasting the money spent on Ukraine with the assistance sent to Hawaii - calculating that each Ukrainian has received over $1,700 since the war broke out in February 2022.
The White House has announced that each affected household in Hawaii will receive $700 - a sum many islanders considered insulting. Locals were particularly infuriated by Biden, asked last Sunday about the fires as he left an afternoon on the Delaware beach, replying: 'No comment.' Even Democrats were demanding to know why the federal aid had been slow to arrive, and joined in their Republican colleagues in questioning Biden's delay in arriving in Maui.
Biden interrupted his Lake Tahoe vacation on Monday to fly five hours to the island, and insist that the federal government was there for the islanders.
While the death toll in Maui has topped 114, some 850 remain missing. 'The devastation is overwhelming, to date 114 dead,' Biden said, before launching into a lengthy anecdote about his own loss of his first wife Naomi and one-year-old daughter in a car accident in 1972.
'We're focused on what's next as rebuilding a long, long term rebuilding for long term and doing it together to help get us back on our feet to rebuild the way we want to rebuild,' Biden told the crowd, as charred rubble lay in his background. 'By making sure your voices are heard, by respecting your traditions, by understanding the deep history and meaning the sacred ground and establishing your community not to change his character but reestablish it.
'We're also going to bring the capabilities to help you rebuild. So your critical infrastructure is more resilient in the future.'
He also praised 'stories of hope, and heroism of the aloha spirit.' Biden had touched down in Kahalui hours earlier. Biden visited with those who lost homes and loved ones during the disaster and was briefed by public officials.
The White house said he has continued to receive briefings over the weekend, after Biden issued a series of public statements on the disaster following his early stumbles.The president appeared more somber in tone when he met with local officials than when he told a reporter he had 'no comment' on the inferno's devastation while relaxing at his Delaware beach house last Sunday. Last week, he appeared to forget the name of Maui, repeatedly referring to fires blazing on 'the Big Island' The 114 person death toll already makes the inferno one of the nation's deadliest in history - and an estimated 1,000 people are still unaccounted for.
Officials are still analyzing the factors that contributed to the massive inferno, including problems with its electrical grid. The president left behind a more tranquil setting - he is renting the home of billionaire former presidential candidate and climate activist Tom Steyer on the eastern side of Lake Tahoe.
He has been accompanied on that vacation by his son Hunter, who has been dealing with the collapse of his plea deal on tax charges, and whose probe is now being overseen by U.S. attorney David Weiss in the role of special prosecutor.
After taking criticism for his 'no comment' while at the beach, Biden has been making repeated references to the tragedy.
He spoke at Camp David about financial contributions by Japan and South Korea announced at the summit, then boarded Marine One to make his way to Nevada.
'I want to start by expressing my appreciation for the contribution that your countries have made for relief following the devastating wildfires in Hawaii. I want to thank you both on behalf of the American people,' he said. Biden also said FEMA was preparing for the arrival of Hurricane Hilary in Southern California.
On Thursday he promised to offer assistance to Maui for 'as long as it takes' during a recorded message that aired on ABC's 'Good Morning America.'
'The entire nation is with you as you recover, rebuild and grieve,' he said.
The wildfire that broke out August 8 in the town of Lahaina is now the deadliest in more than a century, and the fifth-deadliest on record for the U.S.
'We'll be with you for as long as it takes, I promise you,' the president added. He noted the federal government has already taken action to send hundreds of emergency personnel and thousands of meals and supplies to the historic tourist town ravaged by flames.
Before Biden announced his visit, Republicans compared his lack of a visit to East Palestine, Ohio - where a train derailed and spilled toxic chemicals, displacing 100s. Biden had promised to visit the Ohio town but never did.
Former President Donald Trump and other Republicans tore into him. Trump said he was refusing 'to help or comment on the tragedy' and called the moment 'horrible and unacceptable.' Biden first issued his 'no comment' while while staying at the beach near his Delaware home.
Then while breezing by reporters he made a terse comment, saying he was 'looking at it.'
Back at the White House, a reporter asked Biden at the White House: 'Can you tell us about your Hawaii trip?'
'No, not now,' Biden said, before staff eventually announced details.
It call came during a time when Biden might have preferred some distance form the press, following the appointment of the special counsel for his son.
Biden and the first lady are traveling to Maui on Monday to comfort survivors of the devastating wildfires that ripped through the western part of the Hawaiian island earlier this month, as his administration responds to the devastation whose full scope is still unknown.
The Bidens are taking a detour from their weeklong vacation in the Lake Tahoe area for the day trip to Lahaina, a historic town of 13,000 people that was virtually destroyed by the flames. While there, the first couple will meet with first responders and be briefed by state and local officials about the ongoing response.
They will also view the damaged town, both from helicopters and on the ground, and the Democratic president will deliver remarks paying tribute to the victims of the wildfires, which have killed more than 100 people since they began on Aug. 8.
The president will also tap Bob Fenton, a regional leader at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as chief federal response coordinator for the Maui wildfires, ensuring that someone from his administration will be responsible for long-term recovery efforts. It will take years to rebuild Lahaina, where just about every building was obliterated.
'I know how profoundly loss can impact a family and a community and I know nothing can replace the loss of life,' Biden said in a statement ahead of the trip. 'I will do everything in my power to help Maui recover and rebuild from this tragedy. And throughout our efforts, we are focused on respecting sacred lands, cultures, and traditions.'
Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, said that as of Sunday about 85% of the affected area had been searched and nearly 2,000 people remained without power and 10,000 were without telecom connectivity. Water in parts of west Maui is not safe to drink.
While immediate aid such as water, food and blankets has been readily distributed to residents, Schatz said that cellphones, identification and other documents that people would need to help them enroll in longer-term aid programs were burned in the fires, adding more challenges to the application process.
More than 1,000 federal officials remain on the ground in Hawaii to respond to the wildfires, according to the White House. The administration has doled out more than $8 million in aid to affected families.
Schatz, who will be with Biden as the president travels to his home state on Monday, stressed that officials were 'still responding to the disaster' and 'We are not yet in a recovery phase.'
'As bad as this looks, it´s actually worse,' he said in a phone interview on Sunday. 'What you can´t see is the damage to utility infrastructure. What you can´t see is the thousands of kids who are trying to figure out how to go to school this fall. What you can´t see is the first responders who went into the flames without regard for their own safety and had their own homes burned down.'
While vacationing in Lake Tahoe, Biden has been on the phone regularly with officials to get briefed on updates to the wildfire response, the White House said.
