Two years after disaster struck East Palestine, Ohio, Vice President J.D. Vance returned to the small town to mark the anniversary of the devastating Norfolk Southern train derailment—an event that symbolized government failure under the previous administration. Vance didn’t mince words: the cleanup should have been done long ago, but thanks to the Biden administration’s incompetence, East Palestine is still waiting for justice.
Vance delivered a simple yet powerful message on behalf of the Trump administration: We will not forget you. He stood alongside Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, and Senators Bernie Moreno and Jon Husted, reaffirming the administration’s commitment to completing the environmental cleanup and jumpstarting the region’s economy.
VP @JDVance in East Palestine, OH on the 2nd anniversary of the train derailment:
“President Trump wanted to deliver a message that this community will not be forgotten, will not be left behind, and we’re in it for the long haul… The environmental cleanup has to get done.” pic.twitter.com/MjIYl0p0XA
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) February 3, 2025
And let’s be clear—this disaster wasn’t just about a train derailment. It was about a government that abandoned its own people. When the toxic chemicals spilled and an entire town was forced to evacuate, Joe Biden was nowhere to be found.
It took him a full year to bother showing up. Meanwhile, Trump was on the ground just weeks after the disaster, offering both support and solutions. It wasn’t until Trump visited that Pete Buttigieg, Biden’s absentee Transportation Secretary, finally decided East Palestine was worth his time.
To make matters worse, Biden’s team made a bad situation even worse. Instead of carefully handling the crisis, they authorized a controlled burn of the toxic chemicals—poisoning the air and water of the very people they were supposed to protect.
And for what? The National Transportation Safety Board later confirmed what everyone with common sense already knew: the burn was completely unnecessary. There were other, safer options, but the bureaucrats in charge took the lazy way out, and the people of East Palestine paid the price.
Now, with Trump back in office, the work to fix this mess is finally moving forward. As Vance put it, the priorities have shifted: Is the water safe? Is the air clean? Can businesses come back? These are the questions that should have been answered two years ago, but instead, Biden and his team sat on their hands.
And while the people of East Palestine struggle to rebuild, Norfolk Southern is now facing a lawsuit over seven deaths tied to the mishandling of this disaster. Seven lives lost because of corporate negligence and government incompetence.
