Trump floats “getting rid of FEMA” as he visits North Carolina and California disaster areas

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Trump floats “getting rid of FEMA” as he visits North Carolina and California disaster areas

Washington — President Trump said Friday that he would sign an executive order to overhaul or possibly even abolish the Federal Emergency Management Agency as he visited North Carolina, months after it was hit hard by flooding caused by Hurricane Helene. 

Mr. Trump said the order would “begin the process of fundamentally reforming and overhauling FEMA, or maybe getting rid of FEMA.” 

He said the agency has been too bureaucratic and slow, and that state governments should manage the response. FEMA coordinates the federal government’s response to disasters, working with states and territories that have requested federal support. 

“I like, frankly, the concept: When North Carolina gets hit, the governor takes care of it. When Florida gets hit, the governor takes care of it, meaning the state takes care of it,” Mr. Trump said. “To have a group of people come in from an area that don’t even know where they’re going in order to solve immediately a problem is something that never worked for me.” 

One possibility, Mr. Trump said, would be the federal government paying states directly after an emergency. He said governors can address the issues “very quickly.” 

“That’s what states are for, to take care of problems,” he said. 

FEMA faced an uproar in the aftermath of Helene as conspiracies spread online about what the federal government was doing to help affected residents. Mr. Trump was among those who made misleading claims about federal disaster relief, falsely alleging that the Biden administration distributed most of FEMA’s funds to undocumented immigrants. He also falsely claimed that storm victims were only being offered $750 in aid. 

FEMA has distributed $319 million in financial assistance to residents so far, the Associated Press reported.

Mr. Trump is heading to the Los Angeles area after his visit to North Carolina to survey the devastation caused by recent wildfires. 

Sara Cook

contributed to this report.

Caitlin Yilek

Caitlin Yilek is a politics reporter at CBSNews.com, based in Washington, D.C. She previously worked for the Washington Examiner and The Hill, and was a member of the 2022 Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellowship with the National Press Foundation.

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