Trump spoke to reporters in New Jersey on Sunday after flash floods wreaked havoc in central Texas over the weekend, killing at least 80 people and sending over 40 others missing. Critics were quick to blame the calamitous toll on the administration’s overhaul of the federal government, which included staff cuts at the National Weather Service.

"I can't hear you,' was President Trump's answer to reporters who wanted to know if Texas' horrifying updated death toll, now at 78, had to do with federal cuts

Officials said more than 850 people had been rescued after a sudden storm dumped up to 15 inches of rain across the region.