A lot has happened since White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders last addressed media members.
Sanders took the podium one week ago and spoke primarily about new sanctions placed by the United States on the Venezuelan government and fielded questions from reporters on a variety of topics. She’s scheduled to take questions from media members once again at 2:30 p.m. Eastern on August 31.
Watch a live stream of her press briefing at the top of the page.
Since Sanders last spoke to reporters August 25, Category 4 Hurricane Harvey struck the Houston area and brought the highest rainfall total in U.S. history. At least 38 people have died as a direct result of the massive storm, and hundreds of thousands more have been displaced from their homes and forced to temporary shelters.
As of Thursday, the U.S. Coast Guard said it’s rescued over 6,000 people and over 1,000 pets from the catastrophic floodwaters and brought them to safety.
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania landed in Corpus Christi, Texas to view the damage caused by the storm and get briefed on the latest update by Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
“We won’t say congratulations, we won’t want to do that,” Trump said to Abbott during a press event. “We’ll congratulate each other when it’s all finished.”
Abbott didn’t hold back in singing the praises of Trump and the federal government for their assistance in the time of need.
“What I’ve learned is we can count on the president of the United States and his staff for helping Texas,” Abbott said. “Texas has been tested, but our response to this challenge has been made much more effective because of the very effective way the president and his staff have responded to this challenge.”
One day later, Trump outlined a set of proposals for his long-awaited tax plan. He didn’t give many specifics on it, but spoke in Springfield, Missouri to tout it. During his speech, he promised lower rates and reworking the tax code. In addition, he pressured Congress to follow through on the promises they delivered.
“I don’t want to be disappointed by Congress,” Trump said. “I think Congress is going to make a comeback. I hope so the United States is counting on it.”