Trump says he will tour damage from Hurricane Laura

President Trump said Thursday he plans to visit the Gulf Coast region damaged by Hurricane Laura, probably as soon as this weekend.

Trump also told reporters that he considered postponing his keynote speech to the Republican National Convention — scheduled for Thursday evening — to visit storm-ravaged areas but that he didn’t need to once the storm weakened.

“I was actually prepared to postpone the speech tonight and make it on Monday,” Trump told reporters during a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) briefing on the hurricane, saying he was planning to travel to Texas, Louisiana and possibly Arkansas.

“But now it turned out we got a little bit lucky. It was very big and it was very powerful but it passed quickly, and so, everything is on schedule,” he continued.

The president said he would be touring storm damage “very shortly,” likely either on Saturday or Sunday.

Laura made landfall in Louisiana on Thursday morning, weakening from a Category 4 to a Category 2 hurricane. The storm brought damaging winds, heavy rain and flooding, causing hundreds of thousands of people to lose power.

The White House added the FEMA briefing to Trump’s schedule on Thursday morning. The president has spoken with the governors of Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas in the midst of the storm.

Trump is slated to deliver remarks accepting the GOP nomination for president to a live audience from the White House later Thursday. He is expected to mention the storm in his speech.

“The president will talk about the hurricane and the preparations that have been made and ask for God’s blessing for the people who are in its path,” Trump communications director Tim Murtaugh told reporters on Thursday.