Biden says he has no plans to visit site of toxic Ohio train derailment — and hasn’t been invited

As he prepared to board Marine One for a weekend getaway to Delaware on Friday, President Biden told reporters that he has no plans to visit East Palestine, Ohio — and that he hasn’t been invited amid rancor over the administration’s handling of the toxic train derailment. 

“At this moment, no,” Biden, 80, responded outside the White House when asked if he had any plans to visit the town near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border, where dangerous chemicals spilled onto the ground and toxic smoke billowed into the air after a Norfolk Southern train derailed on Feb. 3. 

The toxic spill and ensuing fire forced the evacuation of roughly 5,000 panicked residents. Tens of thousands of animals in the area have also reportedly died in the weeks after the derailment, troubling residents. 

Biden faced strident criticism from Republicans over his decision to visit Ukraine’s capital city of Kyiv earlier this week before touring East Palestine, where residents remain concerned over possible long-term health effects from the train derailment. 

The Biden administration has been accused of ignoring the calamity in East Palestine by several top Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, who is seeking the 2024 GOP nomination for president. 

Follow The Post’s coverage of the Ohio train derailment

Trump delivered thousands of bottles of his namesake-branded water to the town on Wednesday and accused the Biden administration of “indifference and betrayal” over its handling of the disaster.

Biden defended his administration’s response to the derailment on Friday before departing for his Wilmington residence, touting a quick federal response to the crisis and ongoing engagement with officials in the region.

“I had a long meeting with my team on what they are doing. You know, we were there two hours after the train went down — two hours,” Biden said.

“I’ve spoken with every single major figure in both Pennsylvania, and in Ohio,” he went on.

“And so, the idea that we’re not engaged is simply not there. In addition, there was not a request for me to go out, even before I was heading over to Kyiv,” Biden argued. 

East Palestine Mayor Trent Conaway accused Biden of abandoning his domestic responsibilities after the commander-in-chief spent President’s Day meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and announcing $500 million more in financial aid to the war-torn nation.

“That was the biggest slap in the face,” Conaway told Fox News’ “Jesse Watters Primetime” on Monday night.

“That tells you right now he doesn’t care about us,” the mayor continued.

“He can send every agency he wants to, but I found out this morning that he was in Ukraine giving millions of dollars away to people over there and not to us … on Presidents’ Day in our country, so I’m furious.”

On Thursday, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who has also been a target of both Democrat and Republican criticism over the derailment, with some lawmakers calling for his firing, traveled to East Palestine for the first time, nearly three weeks after the accident. 

Buttigieg has also been criticized for taking 10 days to make his first public comments on the disaster.