Biden Cancels Foreign Trip as Milton Bears Down on Florida

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden postponed a long-awaited trip to Germany and sub-Saharan Africa on Tuesday, saying he needs to be in the country with a potentially catastrophic hurricane expected to make landfall in Florida on Wednesday.

“I just don’t think I can be out of the country at this time,” he said ahead of an all-hands meeting of department heads and other officials early Tuesday afternoon.

“We’re going to stay focused on what’s ahead of us right now,” he said.

Biden was referring both to the imminent threat posed to the U.S. mainland by Hurricane Milton, currently a Category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds of 155 mph, and the ongoing recovery and clean up from Hurricane Helene, which left at least 230 people dead as it rampaged from Florida through Georgia and the western Carolinas.

Milton’s expected track would largely spare most Helene-impacted areas from a sorrowful repeat, but the hurricane could make an almost direct hit on Tampa and St. Petersburg, Florida, as a Category 3 storm or worse, with sustained winds of up to 129 miles per hour.

With the hurricane currently tracking east by northeast across the Gulf of Mexico at roughly 8 mph, officials at the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida, warned Floridians that Tuesday is their “last full day … to get their families and homes ready and to evacuate if told to do so.”

At the White House, Biden said Hurricane Milton “could be one of the worst storms in 100 years in Florida” and urged residents to evacuate, “now, now, now.”

During a meeting that included Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, Veteran Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough, White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients and others, Biden directed them to deliver “every available resource as fast as possible” to Florida and do everything they can to save lives in the face of Milton’s wrath.

Already, the president said, federal resources and personnel are surging into Florida to help with final preparations.

On Monday evening, Biden had separate calls with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Tampa Mayor Jane Castor to get their firsthand accounts of the recovery efforts since Hurricane Helene and how they’re preparing for Milton.

The president said DeSantis has been “cooperative” and that he assured the White House that he’s “gotten everything he needs.”

“There was a rough start in some places, but every governor from Florida to North Carolina has been fully cooperative and supportive and acknowledged what this team is doing,” Biden said, referring to the federal response effort after Helene.

Biden also called on airlines and other companies to “provide as much service as possible to accommodate evacuation and not engage in price gouging.”

The president has also spoken repeatedly with National Weather Service Director Ken Graham, who briefed him in detail on the expected impacts of Hurricane Milton.

“I urge everyone, everyone, currently located in Hurricane Milton’s path to listen to local officials and follow the safety instructions,” Biden said, adding, “if past is prologue, [the threat from Milton] is real.”

The president also offered a sharp rebuke to those who are spreading misinformation about the federal government response to the hurricanes.

“Those who do it, do it to try to damage the administration. We can take care of ourselves,” Biden said, before adding, “It’s unAmerican. It really is. People are scared to death. People know their lives are at stake, all that they’ve worked for, all that they own, all that they value.”

Administration officials said the president’s primary concern is that false information about the federal government response will discourage people from seeking critical and lifesaving assistance. 

In an effort to combat the misinformation circulating online, the White House announced Tuesday that it is not “uplifting” information on federal actions and resources on Reddit, the forum-style social media platform.

This includes sharing information on state-based sub-Reddits, as well engaging existing threads regarding hurricane response, recovery and preparedness. 

The White House will also ensure that its information is shared on larger sub-Reddits like r/politics, r/pics and r/NorthCarolina, where it can correct misinformation and clarify the work that has been done by federal agencies in coordination with state and local entities.

“We are leaving no stone unturned to reach people where they are, across different digital destinations as well as across different topics,” an administration official said.

As for his trip overseas, the president said he still planned to visit Angola, though there’s no word yet on when the journey will be rescheduled.

Biden also reiterated his plans to visit Germany, saying he would be talking to the German chancellor “to try to work that out.”

Dan can be reached at [email protected] and @DanMcCue