President Donald Trump called the mayor of a small Chesapeake Bay island on Monday, after learning the island overwhelmingly supported him in the 2016 presidential election.
The Daily Times of Salisbury, Maryland, reported Monday that Trump called the mayor of Tangier, Virginia, after viewing a CNN report last week.
The report detailed the effects of climate change on the sinking island. Tangier is losing roughly 15 feet of coastline per year as the Chesapeake Bay rises around it, according to CNN.
The island is located about 12 miles from the Eastern Shore of Virginia and about 10 miles south of Smith Island, Maryland. Of Tangier's 450 residents, 87 percent voted for Trump in November.
Mayor James "Ooker" Eskridge expressed his support for the president during the call, "I said, 'The stuff you are doing is just common-sense stuff.' I said, 'I believe you're for the working man — and you want people to get back to work — you're for the military, and Israel and religious liberties — It's all the stuff that we value,'" according to The Daily Times.
Eskridge also had the opportunity to discuss the subject matter of the CNN report that originally caught the president's eye.
"He said not to worry about sea-level rise," Eskridge told The Daily Times. "He said, 'Your island has been there for hundreds of years, and I believe your island will be there for hundreds more.' "
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Tangier's residents have been lobbying for years for the construction of a seawall to protect their homes. Residents hope that President Trump's decision to pull out of the Paris climate agreement will free up money to invest in the infrastructure they need to shield the island.
