Trump hopes Biden has fund leftover for East Palestine after Ukraine

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During a visit to East Palestine, Ohio, on Wednesday to follow up on the recovery efforts following a toxic train wreck, former US President Donald Trump said it is terrible that President Joe Biden has not yet visited the small town.  

"I think it's terrible," Trump said when asked about Biden not having visited East Palestine.  

Trump was greeted by a few enthusiastic residents in the town of about 5,000 people.

"Trump," "USA" and "Let's go Brandon," the residents cheered, during one of Trump's stops in town.

Trump told the residents that if he was president, he would have deployed the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to East Palestine following the train derailment immediately to assist in the recovery efforts.

Despite being described as one of the worst ecological disasters to hit the #US, the train derailment in #Ohio isn't getting enough media coverage. Instead, suspected #UFOs are getting all the attention. pic.twitter.com/cRgZ19FyTF

— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) February 15, 2023

While on his visit, Trump said in a speech that after giving billions of dollars to Ukraine, he hopes President Joe Biden has enough funds left over to help the residents in East Palestine.

"I sincerely hope that when your representatives and all of the politicians get here, including Biden, they get back from touring Ukraine, that he's got some money leftover because we're now at $117 billion," Trump said.

The former US president said he found it strange that after more than two weeks, the Biden administration delayed the deployment of federal assistance, such as deploying the Federal Emergency Management Agency, to East Palestine.

Read: Your mess to clean up: Biden to Ohio rail operator

Residents affirmed suffering from recent health effects such as headaches, burning skin, and irritated eyes, as well as anxiety about long-term health hazards such as cancer, despite repeated assurances that the air and water are safe, Sputnik reported.

According to Ohio Department of Natural Resources Director Mary Mertz, 3,500 fish have perished near the train derailment site and a river close to the city of East Palestine was contaminated.

"We have estimated based on our sampling and modeling about 3500 dead fish across that space across those streams, tributaries, waterways," Mertz said during a press conference on Tuesday. "There doesn't appear to be any increase in the fish or aquatic creatures killed since the first couple days of the derailment."

Read: Ohio asks Biden for medical experts on ground near train wreck site

On February 3, a train hauling 20 cars with hazardous materials derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, resulting in a big fire and leading to officials burning vinyl chloride inside five of the tanker cars to avoid a catastrophic explosion.

The chemicals inside the cars were diverted and burnt, letting off into the environment toxic chemicals such as hydrogen chloride and phosgene.

Biden busy with Eastern Europe amid Ohio catastrophe

In an interview with Sputnik, independent American journalist Nick Sortor slammed Joe Biden for his neglect of the victims of the chemical disaster in Ohio and proposed relocating a portion of the money designated for Ukraine's lethal aid to the casualties of the chemical disaster in Ohio. 

Sortor has been covering the recent trail derailment in Ohio and the catastrophe that it caused.

While Sortor is all for sponsoring Ukraine militarily, he claimed that even if only 1% of the money sent to Ukraine is given to Ohio, it would significantly help locals.