By WILL WEISSERT, CHRIS MEGERIAN and MAKIYA SEMINERA Associated Press
SWANNANOA, N.C. (AP) — President Donald Trump said he was considering “getting rid of” the Federal Emergency Management Agency during a trip to disaster zones Friday, offering the latest sign of how he is weighing sweeping changes to the nation’s central organization for responding to disasters.
Instead of having federal financial assistance flow through FEMA, the Republican president said Washington could provide money directly to the states. He made the comments while visiting North Carolina, which is still recovering months after Hurricane Helene, on the first trip of his second term.
“FEMA has been a very big disappointment,” the Republican president said. “It’s very bureaucratic. And it’s very slow.”
Trump said Michael Whatley, a North Carolina native and chair of the Republican National Committee, would help coordinate recovery efforts in the state, where frustrations over the federal response have lingered. Although Whatley does not hold an official government position, Trump said he would be “very much in charge.”
While the president emphasized his desire to help North Carolina, a battleground state that’s voted for him in all of his presidential campaigns, he was much less generous toward California, where he plans to visit wildfire-ravaged Los Angeles later in the day.
Trump reiterated that he wants to extract concessions from the Democratic-led state in return for disaster assistance, including changes to water policies and requirements that voters need to show identification when casting ballots.
Beyond Trump’s criticism of FEMA, he’s suggested limiting the federal government’s role in responding to disasters, echoing comments from conservative allies who have proposed reducing funding and responsibility.
“I’d like to see the states take care of disasters,” he said after landing in the Asheville area. “Let the state take care of the tornadoes and the hurricanes and all of the other things that happen.”
Trump, who was accompanied by first lady Melania Trump, said that would be quicker and cheaper than sending in FEMA.
“FEMA just hasn’t done the job,” the president said. “We’re looking at the whole concept of FEMA.”
The agency helps respond to disasters when local leaders request a presidential emergency declaration, a signal that the damage is beyond the state’s ability to handle on its own. FEMA can reimburse governments for recovery efforts such as debris removal, and it gives stopgap financial assistance to individual residents.
Trump has criticized former President Joe Biden for his administration’s response to Helene in North Carolina. As he left the White House on Friday morning, he told reporters that “it’s been a horrible thing the way that’s been allowed to fester” since the storm hit in September, and “we’re going to get it fixed up.”
After a briefing on recovery efforts, Trump traveled to a small town outside Asheville to meet with residents who have been helped by Samaritan’s Purse, a humanitarian organization headed by evangelical leader Franklin Graham. The residents told him about wading through waist-deep water to escape from their homes while fearing for their lives. Some have battled with insurance companies to get their losses covered.
“We’ve come to North Carolina with a simple message,” Trump said. “You are not forgotten any longer. You were treated very badly by the previous administration.”
“This is our president,” one woman told him. “We appreciate you so much”
FEMA has distributed $319 million in financial assistance to residents, but that hasn’t alleviated the feeling of abandonment among residents who are struggling to rebuild their lives.
Laurie Carpenter, a 62-year-old retiree in Newland, North Carolina, said there’s still debris and trash strewn around her part of the state. She was looking forward to Trump’s visit because she’s been disappointed by the federal response.
“If anybody’s going to do something about it, I think he will,” Carpenter said.
Sarah Wells Rolland, 65, whose Asheville pottery studio was destroyed by flooding, is less enthusiastic. Her town leans Democratic, and she’s worried that Trump won’t prioritize its rebuilding.
“I’m not overly optimistic that the Trump administration is going to do anything long-term,” she said.
Once in California, Trump plans to tour the Pacific Palisades neighborhood, where rows of homes burned to the ground. He’s expected to receive a briefing on the fires, which are ongoing, with thousands of people under evacuation orders.
Trump has showered California leaders with disdain for water policies that he falsely claimed worsened the recent blazes. He said he would “take a look at a fire that could have been put out if they let the water flow, but they didn’t let the water flow.”
Members of Congress will be at the briefing, and the meeting could prove contentious. Trump has suggested using federal disaster assistance as a bargaining chip during unrelated legislative negotiations over government borrowing, or as leverage to persuade California to change its water policies.
“Playing politics with people’s livelihoods is unacceptable and a slap in the face to the Southern California wildfire victims and to our brave first responders,” said Rep. Young Kim, a Republican from Orange County, south of Los Angeles, in a recent statement.
Trump has been focused on California water policies, specifically fish conservation efforts in the northern part of the state.
“I don’t think we should give California anything until they let the water run down,” Trump said Wednesday in an interview with Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity.
Michael Coen, who served as chief of staff at FEMA during the Biden administration, said Trump was “misinformed” about an agency that provides critical help to states when they are overwhelmed by catastrophe.
In addition, Coen criticized the idea of attaching strings to assistance.
“You’re going to pick winners and losers on which communities are going to be supported by the federal government,” he said. “I think the American people expect the federal government will be there for them on their worst day, no matter where they live.”
The last time Trump was president, he visited numerous disaster zones, including the aftermath of hurricanes and tornadoes. He sometimes sparked criticism, like when he tossed paper towels to survivors of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico.
Trump tapped Cameron Hamilton, a former Navy SEAL with limited experience managing natural disasters, as FEMA’s acting director.
Before leaving office, Biden vowed that the federal government would cover all the costs of responding to the wildfires around Los Angeles, which could end up being the costliest natural disasters in U.S. history. However, that promise won’t be kept unless Congress comes up with more funding.
Friday’s trip could prompt some uncomfortable conversations about climate change, which Trump has played down and denied. Both Helene and the Los Angeles wildfires were exacerbated by global warming.
In Helene’s case, a study by international climate scientists at World Weather Attribution found that climate change boosted the storm’s rainfall by 10%. In California, the state suffered a record dry fall and winter — its traditional wet season — which made the area around Los Angeles more vulnerable to blazes.
“This is just breaking our comfort zone of what is supposed to be normal,” said University of Oregon researcher Amanda Stasiewicz.
After visiting North Carolina and California, Trump plans to hold a rally Saturday in Las Vegas.
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Associated Press writers Stephen Groves and Seth Borenstein contributed to this report.