President Donald Trump teased Wednesday evening on Fox News that he wants changes to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) due to Democrats making the agency “bad.”
Following the destruction of Hurricane Helene, FEMA faced backlash over stretched resources and delays in providing relief to impacted areas like North Carolina. While appearing on Fox News with host Sean Hannity, Trump criticized FEMA’s failures while discussing how the Los Angeles County wildfires would impact Congress’ continuing resolution bill.
“I will say that Los Angeles has changed everything. Because a lot of money is going to be necessary for Los Angeles. A lot of people on the other side want that to happen,” Trump said.
Hannity then added onto Trump’s statement, noting how North Carolina has had significant destruction due to Hurricane Helene.
“Well, they don’t care about North Carolina. The Democrats don’t care about North Carolina.What they’ve done with FEMA is so bad. FEMA is a whole other discussion because all it does is complicate everything. FEMA has not done their job for the last four years,” Trump said. “I had FEMA working really well.”
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“We had hurricanes in Florida. We had Alabama, tornadoes. But unless you have certain types of leadership, it really gets in the way. FEMA is going to be a whole big discussion very shortly. Because I’d rather see the states take care of their own problems,” Trump added.
The Category 4 hurricane left North Carolina in rubble in late September 2024, with many cities and towns devastated by the destruction. According to the National Centers for Environmental Information, the state suffered an estimated $78.7 billion in damages and 219 deaths. Trump continued to say that the agency hindered recovery efforts. He said he would visit North Carolina before heading to California.
Trump went on to say that while he loves a state like Oklahoma for their support, “if they get hit with a tornado or something, let Oklahoma fix it” before the federal government comes in and helps “them out with the money.”
“FEMA is getting in the way of everything. The Democrats actually use FEMA not to help North Carolina. It makes no sense. So I’m stopping on Friday. I’m stopping in North Carolina. First stop, because those people were treated very badly by Democrats. I’m stopping there. We’re going to get that thing straightened out,” Trump said. “Because they’re still suffering from a hurricane from months ago. Then I’m going to go to California.”
Southern California’s coastal town of Pacific Palisades caught fire on Jan. 7, burning thousands of homes and forcing many residents to evacuate. By evening, Altadena and Pasadena had also caught fire, destroying more homes.
Since the fire’s destruction, both Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democratic Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass have faced criticism over their leadership and lack of preparation. In addition to resources being stretched thin, reports indicated a lack of water in a local reservoir and fire hydrants in the Pacific Palisades.
Featured Image Credit: Casey Deshong
