EAST PALESTINE, Ohio—Downtown East Palestine, Ohio, on Feb. 22 looked much like it does on a Friday night during high school football season—mostly abandoned and quiet.
However, there was a different sort of vibe in another part of the village, when, instead of gathering for a football game, residents lined the streets near the East Palestine Fire Department hoping to get a glimpse of former President Donald Trump.
While President Joe Biden was returning to the White House from his trip to Poland and Ukraine, where he pledged hundreds of millions more in aid for the war-torn country, Trump arrived in the eastern Ohio village, which is currently coping with the aftermath of a Feb. 3 toxic train derailment, bringing with him Trump-brand bottled water, cleaning supplies, and words of encouragement.
“We’re bringing a lot of water—thousands of bottles,” Trump told reporters following a tour of the village’s firehouse. “We have it in trucks and we brought some on my plane today.”
Trump was joined in East Palestine by U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), Rep. Bill Johnson (R-Ohio), state Sen. Michael Rulli (R-Ohio), East Palestine Mayor Trent Conaway, and Donald Trump Jr., the former president’s son.
Prior to a press conference, Trump visited Little Beaver Creek, where local officials provided insight into the derailment’s environmental impact.
The former president, who’s seeking another term in 2024, called the crash a “tragedy,” told residents that they are “not forgotten,” applauded the community as the “tough and resilient heart of America,” and praised Conaway, Johnson, Vance, and other officials for their response to the crash.
He criticized the Biden administration’s response, telling residents, “In too many cases, your goodness and perseverance were met with indifference and betrayal.”
Life abruptly changed for East Palestine residents on Feb. 3. At around 9 p.m., a Norfolk Southern Railway freight train carrying 151 cars derailed in the community of 4,761 people. Hazardous chemicals in several of the rail cars, including vinyl chloride, spilled onto the ground and into the air.
Seeking to avoid an explosion, Norfolk Southern decided to release the vinyl chloride from five rail cars and dispose of it in a controlled burn, which sent flames and thick black smoke billowing into the sky.
Vinyl chloride is used to make PVC pipes and other products. The National Cancer Institute notes that the toxic chemical has been linked to cancers of the brain, lungs, blood, lymphatic system, and liver.
Before the controlled burn, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine urged residents in a one-by-two-mile area surrounding East Palestine—which included parts of Ohio and Pennsylvania—to evacuate.
DeWine described the urgency as a “matter of life and death.”
Three days later, DeWine held a press conference announcing that the evacuation order had been lifted and residents could return to their homes. Norfolk Southern trains resumed their routes through East Palestine, and federal and state officials said testing showed that the air and water are safe.
However, since returning, many residents have reported health reactions such as headaches, skin rashes, and nausea.
Multiple residents of East Palestine and surrounding communities have expressed skepticism and mistrust of state and federal authorities who have repeatedly said testing shows that the air and water are safe.
East Palestine residents, and Trump supporters who traveled to the village from across Ohio and Pennsylvania, praised the former president for taking the time to pay a visit.
“Here’s the thing: Love him or hate him, he took time to come to this town. Where are the people from the White House, and the president? Giving billions of dollars to another country,” local resident Michele Payne said, referring to Ukraine.
“It is because of the exposure that they are doing something and not sweeping this under the rug.”
After Trump’s visit, Ray Simon, a professional artist who lives 60 miles north of East Palestine, joined locals and out-of-towners at The Original Roadhouse, a restaurant and bar in the village.
One of his paintings of Trump was on display.
“What did Abraham Lincoln say in 1863? We must not be enemies but friends, we must remain friends,” Simon said while talking to patrons at The Original Roadhouse. “I had my friends who are Democrats in Youngstown say, ‘Well, you know, they hate Biden out there.’ That shouldn’t prevent the president and his administration from showing a greater priority in helping a town that is in need.”
Trump’s visit and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s plans to arrive in East Palestine on Feb. 23 were among the conversation topics among locals gathered around the bar area at The Original Roadhouse after Trump departed the village.
“I could tell you what I think about the Secretary of Transportation and the president, but you wouldn’t be allowed to print it,” one man said. “They think we are a bunch of hillbillies. Well, we might be, but many of us are educated hillbillies. We love this town, and we support each other. We expect support from our government, and it is slow to happen.”
Conaway, a registered Republican in deeply conservative Columbiana County, said on Feb. 21 that Biden’s decision to visit Ukraine before traveling to his village was “the biggest slap in the face.”
“That tells you right now he doesn’t care about us,” he said. “He can send every agency he wants to, but I found out this morning in one of the briefings that he was in Ukraine giving millions of dollars away to people over there and not to us.
“I’m furious.”
Asked on Feb. 23 about Conway’s comments, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that Biden administration respondents were on the ground early on.
We believe that we have had a all-of-government, all-hands approach to this not just with the agencies, but also with the different teams here in the White House,” Jean-Pierre said.
“The President has stayed updated on this for the past several weeks,” she added. “While he was in Poland, he spoke to the important folks on the ground, the leadership on the ground, including his leadership in those respective agencies, on what was going on and getting updates. And he will continue to do that and do everything that we can.”
During a press conference on Feb. 22, Conaway said he welcomes a visit by Trump but doesn’t want East Palestine residents to become “political pawns.”
“We don’t want to be a soundbite or a news bite,” he said. “We just want to go back to living our lives the way they were.”
Buttigieg arrived in East Palestine on Feb. 23 to tour the crash site, talk to local, state, and federal authorities; and hold an afternoon conference.
On Feb. 21, Buttigieg told reporters, “I am very interested in getting to know the residents of East Palestine and hearing from them about how they’ve been impacted and communicating with them about the steps that we were taking.”
Buttigieg has drawn criticism from eastern Ohio residents, and Republican and Democratic legislators, for what they see as a slow response to the disaster.
“Buttigieg should’ve been here already,” Trump said on Feb. 22.
“Get over here,” Trump added in a message intended for Biden.
Trump told reporters that he partnered with the nonprofit organization Blue Line Moving and digital solutions provider KORTX to coordinate the delivery of the donated water and cleaning supplies.
Trump admonished the Biden administration for its response and noted that the Federal Emergency Management Agency initially said it wouldn’t dispatch aid to East Palestine, but reversed course upon learning that he would visit East Palestine.
“When I announced that I was coming, they changed their tune,” Trump said on Feb. 22, adding that his presence “opened up the dam” for the Biden administration to act.
“What this community needs now are not excuses and all of the other things you’ve been hearing, but answers and results, and that’s what I think you’re going to see.”
“We will be back,” if residents don’t get those answers and results, Trump remarked.
Before departing, Trump stopped at McDonald’s, where he passed out hats, ordered meals for first responders, visited with patrons, and bought food for the plane ride back to Florida.
One woman in the restaurant said, “Thank you for not forgetting about us.”
Those words resonated with Matthew Hupp, who works in the construction industry, building power plants. He lives in East Palestine near Sulphur Run, one of the contaminated waterways that are undergoing aeration and treatment.
“[Trump] demonstrated at least that he cares [about] what we are going through,” he said as he stood near the banks of Sulphur Run, while pumps aerated water in the creek.
“Joe Biden hasn’t been here,” Hupp added. “That shows we’re not as important to him as places like California and New York. We’re not his voting block. He is dividing America even more by not showing up for people who vote the other way. It’s your responsibility as a president to show up for all people.”
Hupp moved to East Palestine in 2017 and, like many residents, worries about the present along with the long-term future.
“We have the fear of the unknown. We don’t know what the long-term effects will be. We only know what we’re told, but we can’t seem to get consistently straight answers from the government,” he said.
“We also have fear about our future property values,” Hupp said. “To live in a town with the label of ‘Ohio’s Chernobyl’ is devastating, whether it’s true or not.”
