Buttigieg left waiting in the HALL while Giuliani speaks with East Palestine Mayor

Pete Buttigieg had to wait his turn behind Rudy Giuliani to speak with East Palestine‘s Mayor Trent Conaway on Thursday after putting off for 20 days a visit to the Ohio village thrown into chaos after a toxic train derailment earlier this month.

While Giuliani spoke with Mayor Conaway on Thursday, Transportation Secretary Buttigieg waited in the hall for at least 30 minutes.

Buttigieg’s staff was careful, making sure that there were no run-ins between the secretary and Giuliani, a person present for the meeting told DailyMail.com.

Speaking mayor to former mayor, Conaway said he isn’t focused on partisanship and is only interested in ensuring the safety of his constituents who have felt ignored by the Biden administration in the aftermath of a train crash in their small town.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was left waiting in the hallway for at least 30 minutes to speak with East Palestine Mayor Trent Conaway as the local leader met with Rudy Giuliani 

Giuliani (left) met with East Palestine Mayor Trent Conaway (right) on Thursday, February 23 for nearly an hour to discuss crisis management after a train derailed and spewed hazardous materials into the community

Buttigieg (pictured speaking Thursday) finally visited East Palestine following weeks of criticism for the lack of federal government response to the 50-car train derailment on February 3

‘I am grateful to Mayor Giuliani for being here to help us. My top priority is to ensure the health and safety of the people of this city and our region,’ Conaway said during their meeting, according to a spokesperson for Giuliani.

‘I will work with anyone who wants to help East Palestine, and their partisan affiliation is irrelevant to me,’ Conaway added.

Giuliani also met with Representative Bill Johnson, whose Ohio district includes East Palestine.

Donald Trump, who hired Giuliani as his personal attorney while he was president, visited East Palestine on Wednesday, sparking several other visits – including from Buttigieg.

Giuliani, who was mayor of New York City during the 9/11 terrorist attacks, slammed the government’s response to the train crash, which spewed hazardous materials into the air, ground and water.

‘I’ve grown concerned about the lack of a response by our federal government to help the people of East Palestine,’ Giuliani said. ‘I wanted to offer my knowledge and experience when dealing with crisis’ management and most importantly—to help the people here who are our fellow Americans.’

Biden and Buttigieg faced a slew of criticism for not coming out to East Palestine in person and largely ignoring the crisis for weeks.

View of train derailment aftermath in East Palestine, Ohio on February 23, the same day Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Rudy Giuliani visited the town

Courtney Miller is pictured speaking with Rudy Giuliani. The train crash happened directly in her backyard

Residents of the Ohio village told DailyMail.com that they only think they are getting the deserved attention from the administration because former President Trump visited on Wednesday.

Trump said during remarks at the village’s fire station on Wednesday that he would ‘make time’ to come back to East Palestine if Biden and Buttigieg did not keep their promise to fix issues plaguing the town after the toxic chemical release.

Giuliani also promised to Mayor Conaway to stay in touch for as long as clean-up and remediation efforts are ongoing, a person familiar with the conversation told DailyMail.com.

The former Trump attorney met with locals, including a resident named Courtney Miller, who showed Giuliani the damage to the stream behind her home.

‘Courtney lives right next to where the train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio,’ Giuliani wrote in a tweet along with a video speaking with Miller.

‘I’m here to offer my experience with crisis management, as I’m concerned by the federal government’s slow response,’ he added, with the assurance: ‘We’re going to make sure Courtney—and everyone else here—gets the help they need.’

Trump brought in on Wednesday pallets of his branded water bottles along with food and supplies to assist the people of East Palestine.

He also bought first responders a McDonalds meal before leaving back for Florida. 

Former President Donald Trump also visited East Palestine on Thursday and met with Mayor Conaway as well as Ohio Senator JD Vance