Trump visits Lake Okeechobee in key electoral battleground

By Associated Press AP

PUBLISHED 2:42 PM ET May. 09, 2019

CANAL POINT, Florida (AP) — President Donald Trump has toured the Herbert Hoover Dike at Lake Okeechobee in the key electoral battleground of Florida.

Trump blasted Democrats while touting his administration's infrastructure efforts during Friday's appearance as he surveyed efforts to fortify the aging, 143-mile (230.13 kilometer) earthen dam.

Surrounded by Florida officials, Trump claimed the dam project was "dying until we got involved." He also talked about health care, his new threat to close the U.S.-Mexico border and advertised an appearance later Friday with Small Business administrator Linda McMahon at his Palm Beach estate.

A budget proposal Trump released this month includes $63 million for Everglades restoration projects, about a third of what Florida lawmakers and environmental advocates have requested.

Democrats are urging the White House to add funding.

In advance of President Trump's visit to Lake Okeechobee, Florida Senator Rick Scott (R) discussed previous funding requests made while he was governor of Florida:

“I spent the six years I was governor, when Barack Obama was president, asking for funding for Lake Okeechobee. It went on deaf ears. Finally, after President Trump got elected, I bugged the living daylights out of him, and he, along with Congress, appropriated the money to finish the dike at Lake Okeechobee. This is a federally owned project, federally controlled project. We had no control over it, but it cost me unbelievable problems in the state. I even got $100 million worth of state funding to give the Corps of Engineers to focus on the dike at Lake Okeechobee, so step one is - I’m very appreciative that President Trump was supportive of that and I’m very appreciative that Congress did it - I want to make sure all the money stays in the budget and it gets spent. I want to get it done because it’s now supposed to get done by 2022. I think they should put more money in the budget for Everglades restoration. They are behind. They have been behind for 20+ years, 25 years. I, along with Senator Rubio and others, are supporting $200 million. I spent state taxpayer money - we spent over $2 billion in Everglades restoration, along with a lot of other things. I’m going to continue to be appreciative of what the President did by taking the lead to get the dike finished, and I’m going to be also aggressive, saying I want the $200 million, so I’m going to do both. I’ve told the President... and I’ve told the President that they should do it. When I was at a budget committee two weeks ago when the acting director of OMB was there, I told him the same thing.”