Trump floats “Get rid of FEMA” when he visits North Carolina and California’s disaster areas

Washington – President Trump said Friday that he would sign an executive order to review or possibly even abolish the federal emergency administration agency when 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 basic reforming and revision of FEMA, or maybe getting rid of FEMA.”

He said the agency has been too bureaucratic and slow, and that state governments should control the answer. FEMA coordinates the federal government’s response to disasters and works 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, which means the state takes care of it,” said Mr. Trump. “Getting a group of people to come in from an area that doesn’t even know where to go to solve is a problem something that never worked for me.”

One option, Mr. Trump would be the federal government that pays states directly after an emergency. He said governors can tackle the problems “very quickly.”

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

FEMA was facing a riot in the wake of Helene as Conspiracies spread online about what the federal government did to help the affected residents. Mr. Trump was among those who made misleading allegations of federal disaster relief, allegedly claiming that the Biden administration distributed most of FEMA’s funds to undocumented immigrants. He also claimed falsely that storm victims were only offered $ 750 in assistance.

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

Mr. Trump is On the way to the Los Angeles area After his visit to North Carolina to investigate the destruction caused by recent fires.

contributed to this report.