After months of promises to overhaul or eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency, President Donald Trump is touting a fast and robust federal response to the devastating Texas floods. One former agency leader says it’s “a defining event that can help them realize that a Federal Emergency Management Agency is essential.”

Trump also teased that he’ll declare more tariffs against U.S. trading partners ahead of his latest Aug. 1 deadline for negotiations. The 27-member European Union hopes to seal a trade deal ahead of that date, and meanwhile is preparing retaliatory measures against American products, from beef to Boeing jets.

The Latest:

Sweeping tariffs may overshadow Rubio’s security goals in Asia

Trump’s latest threat of higher tariffs to countries including several Asian nations if they don’t make trade deals with the U.S. came just a day before Secretary of State Marco Rubio departed for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations security conference in Malaysia on Thursday and Friday.

Rubio’s “talking points on the China threat will not resonate with officials whose industries are being battered by 30-40% tariffs,” said Danny Russel, vice president of the Asia Society Policy Institute and a former assistant secretary of state for East Asia and the Pacific during the Obama administration.

Compared to China’s representative, Rubio “is a rookie trying to sell an ‘America First’ message to a deeply skeptical audience,” Russell said.

▶ Read more about Rubio’s first official trip to Asia

Trump hosting West African leaders as USAID cuts threaten millions of deaths

The agenda of Trump’s “multilateral lunch” Wednesday with the leaders of Liberia, Senegal, Gabon, Mauritania and Guinea-Bissau includes economic development, security, infrastructure and democracy, according to a statement from the Liberian presidency. The White House has not provided further details.

The surprise meeting comes as Trump takes radical steps to reshape the U.S. relationship with Africa, dissolving theU.S. Agency for International Development and shifting from what the administration calls “a charity-based foreign aid model” to partnerships with nations that have “the ability and willingness to help themselves.”

A study published in the Lancet medical journal projects Trump’s shift will lead to more than 14 million additional deaths globally by 2030, including 4.5 million children.

West Africa possesses untapped resources. They’re also among countries that might fall under an expansion of Trump’s travel ban.

▶ Read more about Trump’s lunch with African leaders

Russia says threat of US tariffs against BRICS violate free trade principles

Russia’s Foreign Ministry accused the U.S. Wednesday of hinting at potential tariffs against the trade alliance of Brazil, Russia, India and China as a form of political pressure.

Spokesperson Maria Zakharova said unilaterally applying such tariffs would destroy the existing architecture for international economic cooperation. She accused Washington of “hiding” behind principles such as fair competition and national security.

Trump’s threat “grossly violates the rules of the WTO and the principles of free trade, which, until recently, Washington insisted on as a universal truth,” Zakharova told journalists.

Trump teases more letters on trade being sent to US trading partners Wednesday

“We will be releasing a minimum of 7 Countries having to do with trade, tomorrow morning, with an additional number of Countries being released in the afternoon,” the president said Tuesday night in a post on his social platform.

Trump has for several days teased letters listing tariffs that the administration plans to impose on different countries — even as it also continues to negotiate trade deals. So far, Trump’s trade blitz has produced lots of uncertainty but deals with just two countries — the United Kingdom and Vietnam.

▶ Read more about the state of play on Trump’s tariffs

Trump avoids talk of scrapping FEMA after more than 100 killed in Texas flash flood

The president has avoided talking about his plan to scrap the federal disaster response agency after the catastrophic flash flood in Texas that killed more than 100 people, including children attending a girls-only camp.

Asked shortly after the disaster whether he still intended to phase out the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Trump said it wasn’t the right time to talk about it. Nor did he mention such plans during a nearly two-hour meeting with his Cabinet on Tuesday.

Instead Trump opened the meeting by having Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem talk about her visit to Kerrville, Texas, a day after floodwaters swept away riverside campers and homeowners in the wee hours of the Fourth of July holiday.

▶ Read more about Trump, FEMA and the Texas floods