UPDATE - Trump approves emergency declarations for 12 states amid historic winter storm expectations

​​​​​​​ADDS STATES, CHANGES HEADLINE, LEDE

By Yasin Gungor

ISTANBUL (AA) - President Donald Trump approved emergency declarations on Saturday for 12 states as a major winter storm threatens widespread devastation across much of the continental US.

In separate posts on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump said he approved declarations for South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, Maryland, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Indiana and West Virginia.

The president pledged federal assistance through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and state partners to ensure safety and adequate support. "We will continue to monitor, and stay in touch with all states in the path of this storm," he wrote.

Millions across the US face states of emergency as the potentially historic storm is expected to affect areas from the southwest through the northeast beginning Saturday.

Twenty-two states have declared states of emergency, including Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia. Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser also declared a state of emergency.

The National Weather Service said heavy snowfall will hit from Oklahoma through southern Maine, while "widespread freezing rain and sleet" are forecast throughout the South and Southeast.

Trump earlier warned that a "record cold wave" is expected to strike dozens of states.