Trump Questions FEMA, Suggests States 'Take Care of Their Own Problems'

While red states benefit most from Fema, I’d say we all benefit from Fema wherever we are,

said Montano

This would have tremendous implications for many red states; it’s hard to find the words for how bad it would be,

Samantha Montano, a disaster response expert at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, said of Trump’s comments

I think he’s ill informed as far as how emergency management works, because American states do have emergency management programs, as do territories like Puerto Rico,

Michael Coen, who served as Fema’s chief of staff under Biden, said of Trump

It just shows his ignorance as to what the challenges are with the fires in California,

he said

It's possible, of course, that this won't be the White House's new position. After all, Trump simply says stuff, and it's anybody's guess as to whether he intends to follow through on his rhetoric."

Steve Benen, a producer of The Rachel Maddow Show, saidin an MSNBC blog post

Adam Kinzingerformer republican congressman

These are the same people who said FEMA wasn't doing enough. It's never about policy, it's just about pretending every day is Opposite Day and manipulating the base to do whatever your whim is that day."

Former GOP Representative Adam Kinzinger of Illinois said on X

Jared Huffmanrepresentative

Saying we should get rid of FEMA and force people to fend for themselves is an appalling take from President Trump. The federal government is here to help the people of America - not leave them in the lurch when disaster strikes."

Representative Jared Huffman, a California Democrat, said on X (formerly Twitter

Unless you have certain types of leadership, it gets in the way. And FEMA is going to be a whole big discussion very shortly because I'd rather see the states take care of their own problems,

he told Fox News' Sean Hannity in an interview that aired Wednesday evening

I will say that Los Angeles has changed everything because a lot of money is going to be necessary for Los Angeles and a lot of people on the other side want that to happen,

Trump said

FEMA has not done their job for the last four years. You know, I had FEMA working really well. We had hurricanes in Florida, we had Alabama tornados,

Donald Trump said in the interview

I don’t think we should give California anything until they let the water run down,

Trump said

I love Oklahoma, but you know what? If they get hit with a tornado or something, let Oklahoma fix it. … And then the federal government can help them out with the money. FEMA is getting in the way of everything, and the Democrats actually use FEMA not to help North Carolina,

Trump continued

So I'm stopping on Friday. I'm stopping in North Carolina, first stop, because those people were treated very badly by Democrats. And I'm stopping there. We're going to get that thing straightened out because they're still suffering from a hurricane from months ago,

Trump said

There is massive amounts of water, rain water and mountain water, that comes to with the snow, comes down, as it melts, there's so much water they're releasing it into the Pacific Ocean,

he said

If they have a tornado some place and if they let that state—Oklahoma is very competent,

Trump said, before going on a tangent about how he won the state in the 2024 election

Well, they don't care about North Carolina,

Trump countered

So, I'm stopping, on Friday, I'm stopping in North Carolina,

the president said

The Democrats don’t care about North Carolina. What they’ve done with FEMA is so bad. FEMA is a whole other discussion, because all it does is complicate everything,

he insisted