While millions were preparing to endure severe winter storms across the south and mid-Atlantic, it seems President Donald Trump has been worried about the other kind of “ice.” Now, his administration is facing backlash after urging a government agency to avoid using “ice” in weather announcements.
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Yup, that’s right! According to a CNN report, Trump ordered the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to avoid using “ice” during winter weather reports as the ongoing controversy surrounding federal immigration agents continues to make headlines.
We’ve been keeping you updated with the fallout of Trump sending ICE agents to Minneapolis. So far, the three ICE-related fatal shootings of U.S. citizens have sparked national outrage and drawn much criticism to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which runs ICE, and to the president, who’s over DHS.
Now, it seems Trump is doing as much damage control as possible… including a questionable move on Jan. 22 to censure FEMA, which is also ran by DHS. CNN reported the administration asked the agency to use the term “freezing rain” instead of “ice” in hopes of limiting “public ridicule.”
“What they are worried about here is that by posting something like, ‘Watch out for the ice,’ that it’s gonna become an opportunity for a meme, for internet fodder, for public ridicule against the Department of Homeland Security,” CNN’s Gabe Cohen explained. But insiders fear that avoiding “ice” in reports will spark confusion for Americans just trying to navigate the severe storm weather.
“Part of the problem here, as I talked to agency officials about this, is they’re saying, ‘What we’re talking about is ice and what we’re talking about is saving lives,’” Cohen added.
Trump’s message came right as most of the country began preparing for severe winter storms, which included various forecasts of ice accumulation. “It is pretty remarkable that Homeland Security is saying, ‘Please try to avoid using that word,’” Cohen pointed out.
On the day of Trump’s “ice” warning, FEMA posted to X educating Americans about the upcoming weather. In their post, the agency does not use the word “ice.” A second post also avoided using the term.
The storm began over the weekend, bringing snow and ice to parts of the country you wouldn’t expect– namely Mississippi and Texas. Thousands of flights were canceled and residents reported power outages across the U.S., according to reports.
A spokesperson for FEMA suggested to PEOPLE that the public focus on “ice” is really a game of semantics. “‘Reporting’ like this reads like a desperate ploy for clickbait rather than real journalism that actually gives Americans disaster preparedness information that could save lives,” the statement read. “FEMA will use correct and accurate descriptors of weather conditions to communicate clearly to the American people.”
Folks online called out Trump and DHS for making the word “ice” taboo. “Imagine being so hated your own acronym needs a witness protection alias during winter weather. Peak villain energy,” @born2rule28 tweeted.
“Sure, because when your voters are under the threat of crippling ice, the thing you worry about most is online mockery,” @JudyDB1 wrote.
“WE LIVE IN THE STUPIDEST F**KING TIMELINE. I wish I could say this is satire, but NO,” @SweetFnLucifer said of the FEMA memo.
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