Kneeling to pick up tar balls on an oil-fouled beach and listening to "heartbreaking stories" of loss, President Barack Obama personally confronted the spreading damage wrought by the crude gushing into the Gulf of Mexico — and the bitter anger that's rising onshore.

"What can he really do?" said Billy Ward, a developer who comes to his beach house here every weekend and, like many other locals, had little positive to say about Obama's trip to the beleaguered region on Friday. "If he wants to do something, let him get out there and pump some mud and cement into that hole. Just fix it. Help us."

BP PLC, even less popular here, kept up its efforts to "just fix it," using its "top kill" procedure to try to stop the deep oil well leak by pumping in heavy mud. If it doesn't work, something BP says will be known within a couple of days, Obama's own problems will only compound.

He said he understands people "want it made right" and that their frustration won't fade until the oil is stopped and cleaned up.

"It's an assault on our shores, on our people, on the regional economy and on communities like this one," the president said from this small barrier island town threatened by what is now established as the largest oil spill in American history. "People are watching their livelihoods wash up on the beach."

A BP drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico exploded on April 20, killing 11 workers and beginning to send millions of gallons of oil spewing into the water. That oil is now beginning to foul beaches, kill wildlife and cripple the tourism and fishing industries on which this area depends. With the crude still flowing freely, criticism has been increasingly aimed at Obama and his administration.

Amid concern that the environmental and economic disaster could also engulf his presidency, Obama has stepped up his public appearances this week to demonstrate that he is engaged. He held a rare White House news conference on Thursday, focusing almost entirely on the spill. And Friday, he flew to the coast for an inspection tour and meetings that lasted about four hours — his second visit in the 39 days of the crisis.