President Donald Trump warned late Wednesday that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will face a reckoning after four years under the Biden administration, arguing that the emergency response agency “hasn’t done their job.”
“FEMA hasn’t done its job for the last four years. You know, I had FEMA that worked very well. We had hurricanes in Florida. We had tornadoes in Alabama. But unless you have some kind of leadership, you’re really going to be in trouble. .” And FEMA is going to be a really big discussion soon, because I’d rather see the states solve their own problems,” Trump said Wednesday in an exclusive interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, his first White House. interview since his inauguration.
Trump then turned his attention to the state of Oklahoma, touting his winning of all 77 of the state’s counties in the 2024 election and arguing that if the Sooner State is hit by a tornado, state leaders should take the lead in emergency aid before the elections. The federal government is stepping in for additional help.
“I love Oklahoma, but you know what? If they get hit by a tornado or something, let Oklahoma fix it. … And then the federal government can help them with the money. FEMA is in the way of everything, and the Democrats are not actually using FEMA to help North Carolina,” Trump continued.
President Donald Trump sits for an interview with Fox News. (Fox News / Hannity)
FEMA found itself under the nation’s microscope last year when Hurricane Helene tore through North Carolina, devastating residents while sweeping away homes and businesses and killing more than a hundred people. FEMA and the Biden administration faced intense backlash for their handling of the emergency, while Trump accused the agency of hampering relief efforts in Republican areas.
“The Democrats don’t care about North Carolina. What they did to FEMA is so bad. FEMA is a whole “different discussion because it just complicates everything,” he said.
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‘So I’m quitting on Friday. I stop in North Carolina, the first stop, because those people were treated very badly by the Democrats. And there I stop. We’re going to straighten that out because they’re still suffering from a hurricane from months ago,” Trump said.
Flooding from Hurricane Helene in Western North Carolina. (Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images)
Trump will visit North Carolina on Friday, his first trip as president, where he is expected to tour and meet with residents left devastated by September’s hurricane. He will also visit California that same day, where wildfires have raged through the Los Angeles area this month.
The trip will highlight what Trump has described as the failure of emergency aid at the hands of Democratic leaders.
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A house burns as the Palisades Fire rages in the Mandeville Canyon, in Los Angeles, California, U.S., January 11, 2025. (REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton)
‘And then I go, then I go goes to Californiahe said, before criticizing Gov. Gavin Newsom’s handling of wildfire prevention and response. Trump has long criticized the Democratic governor for prioritizing environmental policies such as protecting dwindling smelt and Chinook salmon populations and not tapping into northern water sources. of the state which he believed would allow for better fire response.
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“There are enormous amounts of water, rainwater and mountain water, that come with the snow, come down and as it melts, there is so much water that they are released into the Pacific Ocean,” he said.
