Donald Trump heads to FEMA for briefing on impact of Hurricane Laura

President Donald Trump has added a briefing at FEMA to his Thursday schedule as Hurricane Laura pounds the southern part of the United States but first he’ll attend a fundraiser at his Washington D.C. hotel.

The president is scheduled to arrive at his Trump International Hotel at noon on Thursday – the day he formally accepts the Republican Party’s nomination for a second term – for a sitdown with his supporters staying there. 

Then he’ll head to FEMA for the briefing on Laura as the Category 4 storm system smashed into Texas and Louisiana with 150 mph winds. 

The fundraiser will rake in $10 million for Trump’s campaign coffers. 

‘The roundtable fundraiser this afternoon will raise $10 million for Trump Victory,’ the Republican Party said in a statement, adding that precautions had been taken against the coronavirus.

‘The event site is professionally cleaned and sanitized prior to the event. The White House Medical Unit and U.S. Secret Service will evaluate all attendees in order for them to gain access to the event. All attendees will test negative for COVID-19 on the day of the event, complete a wellness questionnaire, and pass a temperature screening,’ the party said.

The briefing comes as images from the hurricane threaten to overshadow Trump’s big night, when he formally accept his nomination for a second term with a live speech in front of a crowd of 1,500 people on the South Lawn at the White House.

He will acknowledge the storm, according to Marc Short, the chief of staff for Vice President Mike Pence, who told MSNBC that the president will address the hurricane during his speech.

His speech will address his ‘law and order’ theme that he has stressed the past few weeks.

It comes as the hurricane strikes the south and the coronavirus pandemic rages across the United States with 5.84 million people infected and more than 180,000 deaths.

‘This is a very very big deal. As we have a once in a century pandemic, we have a once in a century hurricane,’ outgoing White House counselor Kellyanne Conway told reporters at the White House on Thursday morning. ‘It’s good we have a leader who’s willing to monitor that and respond to that forcefully.’

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told Fox News that President Trump spoke to Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards late Wednesday and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday morning as they grapple with the storm. 

The Category 4 monster made landfall at 1am with the strongest winds that Louisiana has seen since 1856 and warnings that the storm could rip apart buildings and penetrate up to 200 miles inland. 

Louisiana Gov John Bel Edwards reported that the state has one fatality from the hurricane that became a Category 1 hurricane shortly after 9am. 

The storm’s first victim, a 14 year old girl, died when a tree fell on her home, according to the governor’s office. The office said they do expect more fatalities as the hurricane continues to pass through the state. 

Laura reached land near the small town of Cameron around 30 miles from the Texas border, where officials went door-to-door pleading with people to flee the path of the storm amid fears the entire parish will be inundated.