UPDATE: The president has arrived in southwest Florida
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President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and their respective spouses are expected to travel to Florida on Thursday after Hurricane Irma swept through the state this weekend, resulting in deaths of at least 12 people in the United States.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders confirmed the president's trip at Tuesday's press briefing. She added that Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Brock Long was visiting affected areas Tuesday.
HURRICANE IRMA
How to register for FEMA disaster assistance | VIDEOS: Hurricane Irma brings intense winds, rain to Florida | PHOTOS: Irma leaves damage across Tampa Bay
Melania Trump's communications director Stephanie Grisham tweeted shortly after that the First Lady would be joining her husband, and later in the day Pence's press secretary Marc Lotter said that the vice president and second lady Karen Pence would also travel to Florida.
The trip will be Trump's third related to hurricane response in just over two weeks. He visited Texas on Aug. 29 during which he received briefings from local officials but was later criticized for not meeting with victims.
President Trump will be in the Naples and Fort Myers area when he visits the state in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma.
Trump returned to Texas and stopped in Louisiana on Sept. 2 where he visited a shelter and spoke with some of those affected by Hurricane Harvey.
