Trump told the mayor of a disappearing island not to worry about sea-level rise. Here's what it's like to live there.

"By the time I got halfway down the Main Ridge, everyone knew where I was going and why," Swift wrote of his visit in 2000. "A visitor to Tangier had best assume he's the object of almost anthropological study and conduct himself accordingly. The islanders might complain that tourists eye them a bit too closely, but it cuts both ways."

During the day, most of the men from the island — known as watermen — are out in boats, collecting crabs and oysters. Others work on tugboats or captain vessels carrying passengers.

There's plenty that the island doesn't have, including many cars or modern amenities.

"All of which explains why first impressions of Tangier, and much that's been written about it, tend to fasten on what the place lacks, rather than its one great asset — the geographic advantage defining its very existence. For all of its deprivations, Tangier could not be better situated to harvest Callinectes sapidus," wrote Swift.

"By four on a springtime morning, the waters off Tangier are dotted with moving light — the sallow glow of boat cabins, the powerful beams that captains use to find their buoys, and blue-white LEDs illuminating open decks."

They need to be out before the day gets too hot, as the crabs won't last crammed into baskets in the heat of the day.

"Tangier women shepherd the island's thinking," Swift wrote. "In just about every aspect of island life but two, working the water and running the churches, women are in charge. And the churches are only ostensibly ruled by men. Influence within the congregations is largely wielded by women."

Many of the approximately 650 islanders consider themselves traditional Methodists — uncomfortable with discussions in the church about gay marriage or gay ministers. Others belong to an even more conservative splinter church.

Swift recounts a 1920 story of an island constable who shot someone that insisted on running an errand during church hours (the constable was sentenced to a year in prison, but quickly received a pardon). Thankfully, such rules aren’t enforced with quite that same vigor anymore.

Ooker asked Trump to help get a seawall built to hold back the seas that continue to wash away Tangier.

Trump called Ooker up, thankful for the support. "Your island has been there for hundreds of years, and I believe your island will be there for hundreds more," he said.

"Many islanders were reassured by this," Swift wrote. "The world at large found it preposterous."

The highest points of the island are about four feet above sea level, but much of the land is only a foot or two above the water. Researchers say that seas in the Bay surrounding the island are rising about 5 mm per year. That's faster than the global average of 3 mm, and it could break up the inhabited parts of Tangier within 25 years.

"This is an article of faith on Tangier," Swift wrote. "Islanders tend to consider erosion as separate and distinct from sea-level rise, while scientists point out they’re interlinked — the higher the water, the more destructive the incoming waves."

Swift wrote that when he left, the school on the island — the only K-12 school remaining in Virginia — had 60 students. Many young people leave the island for easier lives, with few deciding they want the risky career of the watermen.

"Even if Tangier somehow avoided drowning for, say, twenty years, there might not be anyone left to celebrate," he wrote.