US: President Trump visits California amid wildfires, mulls abolishing FEMA

He then said he may soon abolish the agency and instead send money directly to states to manage their own disaster relief efforts.

US President Donald Trump on Friday (local time) made a visit to California and expressed his dismay at the devastation caused by wildfires, CNN reported.

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/01/24/asia/taiwans-budget-freeze-defense-trump-intl-hnk/index.html

Earlier on Friday, during a trip to tour damage from Hurricane Helene flooding in North Carolina, he said the state “has been abandoned by the Democrats” and suggested he might eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The trip is Trump’s first visit outside Washington since his inauguration on Monday. His party is juggling between their desire to cut spending and Trump’s desire to rebuild both places.

“This is probably one of the best examples of it not working,” he said in North Carolina — a swing state he won three times. Trump sought to contrast his leadership with what he’s said was Democrats’ mismanagement, as per CNN.

He then said he may soon abolish the agency and instead send money directly to states to manage their own disaster relief efforts.

When he was asked how he would solve North Carolina’s challenges, Trump said he is “not really thinking about FEMA right now.”

“When there’s a problem with a state, I think that that problem should be taken care of by the state. That’s what we have states for — they take care of problems, and a governor can handle something very quickly,” CNN quoted Trump as saying.

He said FEMA “has been a very big disappointment,” and described it as slow, overly bureaucratic and expensive for the federal government.

“FEMA‘s turned out to be a disaster,” he added. “I think we’re going to recommend that FEMA go away and we pay directly, we pay a percentage, to the state, and the state should fix it.”

Trump’s desire to eliminate or curtail FEMA could have chilling effects on emergency response even at state levels, according to former FEMA Chief Deanne Criswell.

“We need to take him at his word, and I think state emergency management directors should be concerned about what this means for spring tornado season and the coming hurricane season,” said Criswell, who served under former President Joe Biden. “Do they have the resources to protect their residents?” he asked. (ANI)

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