By S.A. McCarthy
The Washington Stand
After a year of prominent failures from the nation’s top disaster relief agency, President Donald Trump is suggesting that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) be dismantled and states be empowered to respond to disasters on their own.
“FEMA has not done their job for the last four years,” Trump said in an interview Wednesday night. He added that his first administration “had FEMA working really well,” despite “hurricanes in Florida” and “Alabama tornadoes.” The president continued, “But unless you have certain types of leadership, it’s really, it gets in the way. And FEMA is going to be a whole big discussion very shortly, because I’d rather see the states take care of their own problems.”
“FEMA is getting in the way of everything,” Trump insisted, explaining that states should manage their own disaster preparedness and response “and then the federal government can help them out with the money.” In particular, Trump noted FEMA’s failure to address the catastrophic damage wrought by Hurricane Helene last year, especially in North Carolina. “Democrats actually use FEMA not to help North Carolina,” Trump said. He continued, “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.” He added, “We’re going to get that thing straightened out because they’re still suffering from a hurricane from months ago.”
After Hurricane Helene carved a 500-mile swath of destruction through states on the eastern seaboard late last year, FEMA came under intense criticism for its response to the disaster. According to numerous reports, FEMA not only blocked U.S. citizens from delivering supplies to rural and isolated areas in North Carolina, but actually confiscated supplies and donations and delivered much of it to shelters for illegal immigrants.
The agency did not deliver monetary donations directly to hurricane victims but spread donations around across multiple FEMA accounts dedicated to various projects. Additionally, FEMA reportedly spent over $1.4 billion over the course of 2023 and 2024 providing for illegal immigrants, depleting the agency’s disaster response funds. Then-Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in the wake of the hurricane, “FEMA does not have the funds to make it through the season.”
In Florida, a FEMA supervisor instructed employees not to approach and offer assistance to houses decorated with Trump campaign gear, such as signs or flags. Once Republicans began investigating, the supervisor alleged that the practice was widespread across the agency, occurring across the whole of Florida as well as both North and South Carolina. Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis (R) explained that he and his administration do not trust FEMA to aid in disaster relief. “We learned in Florida long ago, we don’t rely on FEMA to do any of that type of activity,” he said. He continued, “We rely on FEMA to basically be a bank account. … We take matters into our own hands for the preparation and the rescue and response.”
Trump’s comments on FEMA come as he prepared to tour both North Carolina, still reeling from the effects of Hurricane Helene, and Los Angeles, where destructive wildfires have been raging since the beginning of the month. “We’re going to take care of Los Angeles, I’m going there. I’m going to North Carolina, which has been abandoned by the Democrats. And I’m going to North Carolina, very importantly, first. I’ll be there on Friday, and then I’m going from there to Los Angeles,” Trump announced on Tuesday. Last year, Trump temporarily halted his campaign to tour North Carolina and offer assistance.
In an interview with Breitbart News, Rep. Mark Harris (R-N.C.) said that Trump should expect to find a “great failure of FEMA” when he visits the Tar Heel State. “As some have described it, at times, it has seemed that FEMA was just getting in the way,” Harris said. He continued, “And I think what we’re wanting is to make sure that we have what FEMA was set up to do, and that is to be able to provide this bridge in order for these folks to get their lives back together again and that kind of support.”
However, the congressman praised the work of ministries like Samaritan’s Purse and North Carolina Baptists on Mission, as well as local churches, which have been “rallying around these folks, some helping them rebuild their homes, giving them shelter.”
Originally published at The Washington Stand!
