As Trump visits tornado victims in Alabama, is he playing politics with disaster relief?

Hours after a deadly tornado ripped through Alabama over the weekend, President Donald Trump took to Twitter to promise the state would receive "A Plus treatment" from the federal government as local officials began their recovery.

But the president's strongly worded commitment – and his decision to visit the state on Friday, just days after the storms there killed 23 people – marked a sharp contrast with the rhetoric he has used recently to describe disasters in bluer parts of the country, where he often criticizes local leaders and threatens to withdraw federal aid.

Because Trump directs his most pointed criticism of disaster recovery at California, which endured its deadliest wildfire season in history last year, and Puerto Rico, which has been digging out from Hurricane Maria since 2017, critics have questioned whether the president is playing favorites with states and constituencies that support him.

"The rhetoric does matter," said Rafael Lemaitre, a Federal Emergency Management Agency spokesman during the Obama administration. "Hurricanes don't care if you're a Democrat or a Republican. Tornadoes don't care if you live in a red or a blue state."

Even Trump's critics acknowledge there is no evidence the process itself – driven largely by career FEMA officials – has been affected by politics. And Trump previously tweeted words of support to Puerto Rico and California similar to those he used for Alabama.

"Our hearts are with you," he wrote to Puerto Ricans hours before Maria made landfall on the island in 2017. "Will be there to help!"

But former FEMA officials who worked for presidents of both parties say Trump's penchant for bombast and public bickering with state and local leaders sends the wrong message to victims of disasters and can distract from state and federal cooperation.