US President Trump threatens to end FEMA during North Carolina tour | News Donald Trump
United States President Donald Trump has attacked the Federal Emergency Management Agency, known as FEMA, threatening to dismantle the organization entirely.
In a visit to the hurricane, Hurricane North Carolina, Trump announced that he would sign an executive order “to begin the process of fundamentally reforming and overhauling FEMA—or perhaps getting rid of FEMA.”
Instead, the Republican proposed shifting the burden of disaster management to the states.
“When there’s a problem with the country, I think that problem should be a concern for the country,” Trump said during a news conference on Friday.
“That’s what we have the states for. They take care of the problems. And the governor can pass something very quickly, you know?”
Trump has been tight-lipped about the timeline for his proposed changes to FEMA, despite repeated questions from reporters.
But Friday’s remarks continue a trail of attacks on the agency, as did his predecessor, former Democratic President Joe Biden, in the wake of Hurricane Helena.
On September 26, a powerful Category 4 storm hit the Big Bend region of Florida. But even after making land, it continued to drift northward, wreaking havoc across parts of Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee.
In total, more than 200 people were killed as the hurricane brought record-breaking rain, flooding and tornadoes, leaving places like Asheville, North Carolina, flattened.
North Carolina was one of seven key swing states in the 2024 election that Trump ended up winning.
While campaigning in the days and weeks after the disaster, Trump spread misinformation about disaster response under Biden, including that federal relief workers refused to serve Republican residents—a false claim.
FEMA later reported threat was created to its staff, disrupting a door-to-door wellness check operation in western North Carolina. And then President Biden convicted Disinformation as “un-American”.
“Former President Trump led this onslaught of lies,” he said in October.
But Trump continued to check his claims that the response to the disasters in North Carolina was inadequate at best, including a reference in his inaugural address on Monday.
On Friday, he once again unleashed criticism of both FEMA and Biden, accusing them both of the slow pace of recovery.
“FEMA was a very big disappointment. And they cost an enormous amount of money. It’s very bureaucratic. And it’s very slow,” Trump said at one point.
In another, he lashed out at his Democratic predecessor: “Biden has done a bad job. Some residents don’t have hot water, drinking water or anything else. A lot of them don’t have quarters. They don’t have anything.”
He also teased his trip later in the day to Southern California, where wildfires continue to ravage areas in and around Los Angeles amid unusually dry conditions.
He stressed that conditions for disaster relief under Democratic leadership, including California’s implementation of a voter ID law, will be met.
While Trump has said such measures are needed to prevent voter fraud — a favorite talking point — critics say they could raise barriers for American citizens who might be able to vote but can’t afford or access ID cards.
On the road, as Trump motorcycled through western North Carolina, a small group of protesters gathered to protest the president’s rollback of climate change policies. They pointed out that the climate crisis is responsible for the worsening of extreme weather events, such as hurricanes and fires.
