President Donald Trump announced Thursday he was cancelling his planned trip to Poland this weekend so he could monitor Hurricane Dorian as it barrels toward the American south.

“To ensure all resources of the federal government are focused on the arriving storm, I have decided to send our vice president, Mike Pence, to Poland this weekend in my place,” Trump said in the Rose Garden during an event promoting his plan for a Space Command and Space Force.

“It’s something very important for me to be here. This storm looks like it could be a very, very big one indeed. And Mike will be going.”

The storm is expected to hit the Florida and Georgia coasts as early as this weekend.