Trump’s latest float: Major disaster aid changes: From the Politics Desk

Welcome to the online version of From the Political Deskan evening newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team’s latest reporting and analysis from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail.

In today’s edition, we delve into how President Donald Trump ended a whirlwind week with yet another new proposal that would significantly change the federal government’s role in disaster preparedness. Plus, “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker examines what Trump has — and hasn’t — accomplished in his first few days in office.

Sign up to receive this newsletter in your inbox every weekday here.

—Adam Wollner

---

Trump’s latest flight: Major disaster relief changes

President Donald Trump today began his first trip since taking office, visiting two states that have been devastated by natural disasters in recent months, North Carolina and California. And he used the opportunity to return to a familiar foe: the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA.

While Trump has been critical of the agency in the past, he went a step further Friday, floating an overhaul — or the outright elimination — of FEMA.

“I’m also going to sign an executive order to begin the process of fundamentally reforming and overhauling FEMA, or maybe getting rid of FEMA. I honestly think FEMA is not good,” Trump said.

He proposed cutting FEMA out of the process entirely for future natural disasters and voiced support for letting states take responsibility for disaster preparedness.

“I want to see the states take care of disasters, let the state take care of the tornadoes and hurricanes and all the other things that happen,” Trump said. “And I think you’ll find it a lot cheaper. You’ll do it for less than half, and you’ll get a much faster response.”

The context: As Elyse Perlmutter-Gumbiner, Vaughn Hillyard, and Alexandra Marquez write, FEMA traditionally works not alone in response to natural disasters to clean up debris and provide humanitarian aid, but with state and local partners.

As it stands, both state governors and FEMA play a role in disaster preparedness. Governors have the ability to declare states of emergency, control and coordinate their emergency management agencies, and deploy state resources such as the National Guard.

Only when states make a formal request for federal assistance—or when the situation clearly exceeds state and local capabilities—does the federal government step in, requiring the president to sign a disaster declaration.

Can Trump do it? To eliminate FEMA entirely, he would need Congress to give him authority under the Presidential Reorganization Act. In short, Trump could seek support from both chambers for the authority to consolidate, reorganize or eliminate senior department departments. It happened last during Reagan administration.

It’s unclear how receptive Republican lawmakers would be to that. Late. Susan Collins, R-Maine, a moderate who has not been afraid to break with Trump in the past, said she heard “disappointing reports about how FEMA operated” in recent natural disasters and that additional oversight and hearings would be warranted .

But she added, “I still think you need some sort of FEMA-like agency at the federal level.”

Meanwhile, Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., a Trump ally, said it would “probably be a good idea to get rid of FEMA.”

What comes next: A White House official tells Peter Alexander that Trump will sign an executive order today that takes a first step toward potentially reshaping the Federal Emergency Management Agency by creating a task force to review it and recommend changes.

---

What to know from Day 5 of Trump’s presidency

There was plenty of other news from Trump and his administration today outside of the president’s FEMA remarks. Here are the top lines:

• Trump suggested he might withhold disaster aid to California because of disagreements over voter ID laws and water policies.
• Dr. Anthony Fauci’s security protection has been revoked and he has now hired his own security guard.
• Trump said he was “very surprised” that two Republican senators, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, voted against advancing Pete Hegseth’s defense secretary nomination. The final confirmation vote will take place tonight.
• Trump suggested in an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity that Ukraine should not have fought when Russia invaded it.
• Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 538 people on Thursday. That nearly doubles the agency’s average of 282 arrests per day during the month of September 2024, the most recent month for which data was available.

Follow live updates →

---

Trump told me what he wanted to do when he took office. Here’s how it’s going so far.

By Kristen Welker

Last month, Donald Trump told me that he wanted to immediately address a number of issues when he took office. He has accomplished some of that in his first five days as president, but some big questions remain on the table.

After he didn’t rule out pardoning violent rioters on Jan. 6 when he spoke on “Meet the Press” in December, he did so Monday. Trump also said he would try to end birthright citizenship on his first day in office. He issued an executive order attempting to do just that, though it already faces legal challenges.

In our interview, Trump said he would sign orders related to the southern border, energy and electric vehicles, which he also signed on Monday.

And after Trump told me last weekend that he was considering delaying a ban on TikTok, he signed an order on Monday directing the Justice Department not to enforce the ban for 75 days.

But some of Trump’s big campaign promises remain on his to-do list.

Trump had said he would impose a 25% tariff on goods from Mexico and Canada on his first day in office. He did not go through with it, although he said those rates could come on February 1. While Trump sees tariffs as a crucial economic tool, he told me in December that he couldn’t guarantee they wouldn’t push prices up. .

Trump also promised a quick end to the war in Ukraine, which continues. He told me in December that Ukraine “may” have to prepare for less US aid in the fight against Russia when he takes office.

Also in December, Trump signaled that he may be redefining his promises of “retaliation,” telling me that “retaliation will be through success” and reneging on his promise to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate former President Joe Biden.

But this week, Trump suggested that Biden and those whom the now-former president pardoned before leaving office face congressional investigations, telling Fox News: “I went through four years of hell. I spent millions of dollars in legal fees, and I won. But I did it the hard way. It’s really hard to say they didn’t have to go through it all.”

We’ll unpack more from Trump’s first week in office and what’s next for his agenda on Sunday’s “Meet the Press,” where I’ll talk with Sens. Lindsey Graham, RS.C., and Adam Schiff, D-Calif.

---

---

That’s all from Politiken’s desk for now. Today’s newsletter is prepared by Adam Wollner, Bridget Bowman and Ben Kamisar.

If you have feedback – like or dislike – email us at [email protected]

And if you’re a fan, feel free to share with anyone and everyone. They can sign up here.

---