Trump brought “Trump Water” for residents of train derailments
Former President Donald Trump traveled to East Palestine, Ohio, yesterday, bringing “Trump Water” with him to help people affected by the toxic train derailment and concerned about possible dangers in drinking water supplies.
In a speech on Wednesday, Trump said he offers “thousands of bottles of Trump water” but also said some of it was “water of much lower quality.”
Trump’s speech comes weeks after a train derailed in eastern Palestine, sending thousands of gallons of toxic chemicals into the air and onto the ground in the northeast Ohio city.
Trump visited the site of the train derailment amid complaints that President Joe Biden had traveled to Ukraine before visiting the people involved. Although the Northern Suffolk railway company claims the situation is not a major health concern, people have reported fish turning up dead in nearby streams.
While any sort of bottled water is likely to reassure those who have concerns about drinking tap water in the wake of the crash, some users on Twitter joked that Trump Water might not be much better, especially given that the president himself mentioned it might not the best is quality.
Others singled out its decades-old, discontinued Trump Ice water brand.
In a clip by Access Hollywood Posted by user @JonBershad, Sylvester Stalone says Trump Ice – Trump’s very real water company he founded in the early 2000s – was so bad he “didn’t want to wash [his] socks in.”
Trump Ice was discontinued in 2010 and isn’t the same water that shipped to East Palestine, but users were quick to troll the former president anyway.
“We bring you Trump Water…which was discontinued in 2010…and even lower quality water,” said one user wrote.
“Trump Water was shut down in 2010. He’s giving away plastic water bottles that have been sitting in a warehouse somewhere for THIRTEEN YEARS. It is safer to drain water next to the railway line.” called other.
But while Trump didn’t bring run-off water with him, there was still much criticism of his visit, as Trump rolled back safety rules for dangerous cargo on rail services to prevent problems like the derailments and spills in eastern Palestine.
“His government has lifted safety regulations for high-risk freight trains. Now he wants to turn a toxic blunder into a political branding show for Trump water,” said one user called.
“So Donald Trump rips the railroad safety rules that would have prevented the East Palestine disaster, then he goes to East Palestine and brings them Trump water that may actually be at least 13 years old (the deal went under in 2010)? Got it,” another wrote.
The Environmental Protection Agency recently announced it would take over the cleanup of the chemicals from East Palestine, but instructed Norfolk Southern to take the bill.
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*Initial publication: February 23, 2023 at 8:12 am CST
Jacob Seitz
Jacob Seitz is a freelance journalist originally from Columbus, Ohio, interested in the intersection of culture and politics.
https://www.dailydot.com/debug/trump-water-east-palestine-train-derailment/ Trump brought “Trump Water” for residents of train derailments