Trump proposes ’getting rid of FEMA’ while touring disaster areas

President Trump considers eliminating FEMA after visiting disaster zones in California and North Carolina.

President Donald Trump surveyed disaster zones in California and North Carolina on Friday (January 24, 2025) and said he was considering “getting rid of” the Federal Emergency Management Agency, offering the latest sign of how he is weighing sweeping changes to the nation's central organization for responding to disasters.

Instead of having federal financial assistance flow through FEMA, the Republican president said Washington could provide money directly to the states. He made the comments while visiting North Carolina, which is still recovering months after Hurricane Helene, on the first trip of his second term.

“FEMA has been a very big disappointment," the Republican president said. “It’s very bureaucratic. And it’s very slow."

Trump said Michael Whatley, a North Carolina native and chair of the Republican National Committee, would help coordinate recovery efforts in the state, where frustrations over the federal response have lingered. Although Whatley does not hold an official government position, Trump said he would be “very much in charge.”

While the President emphasized his desire to help North Carolina, a battleground State that's voted for him in all of his presidential campaigns, he was much less generous toward California, where he arrived to visit wildfire-ravaged Los Angeles later in the day.

Trump was greeted by California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Trump critic whom the president frequently disparages. The duo chatted amiably and gestured toward cooperation despite their bitter history.

“We're going to need your support. We're going to need your help," Mr. Newsom told Trump. “You were there for us during COVID. I don't forget that, and I have all the expectations we'll be able to work together to get a speedy recovery.”