US President Donald Trump traveled to North Carolina and will travel to California on Friday to meet with people affected by the hurricane and wildfires.
The trips are Trump’s first outside Washington, DC since taking office for his second term as president.
Trump criticizes Biden administration’s policies and fire response
Trump has harshly criticized California Governor Gavin Newsom and other officials for their response to the massive wildfires that have devastated the state this month.
Trump was among those who spread numerous false or misleading claims over the Los Angeles wildfires, many of which went viral after being reposted by Elon Musk on his social media platform X.
Among these claims was that Newsom refused to provide water from the northern part of the state to fight fires to protect an endangered fish species called the Delta smelt.
Newsom has said there is no link between the fish and the fires and has not diverted water from Northern California to fight fires in the south of the state.
In an interview with Fox News on Wednesday, Trump threatened to withhold aid to California and blamed state leadership’s water policies for making the fires worse.
“I don’t think we should give anything to California until they let the water go down,” Trump said in an interview with Sean Hannity on Wednesday.
Since they broke out, the fires have killed 28 people and damaged or destroyed about 16,000 structures, officials said. Some rain is predicted for the region over the weekend, but much of Southern California remains under a severe fire warning.
Trump’s response to the disaster in North Carolina
Trump has also accused the Biden administration of not doing enough to help western North Carolina with recovery efforts after Hurricane Helene devastated the area in September.
The Biden administration has dismissed the allegations as misinformation.
In contrast to his comments regarding aid for those affected by the fires in California, Trump promised before the election that he would cut red tape and provide federal aid to rebuild homes devastated by Hurricane Helene.
Trump to review ‘whole concept’ of FEMA
But after reaching North Carolina, Trump questioned the federal government’s role in disaster relief.
“I will sign an executive order to begin the process of fundamental reform and change at FEMA, or maybe even get rid of FEMA,” Trump told reporters, referring to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
He said he would like states to “take care of disasters” and that he would review “the entire concept” of FEMA.
“Let the states take care of tornadoes and hurricanes and everything else,” Trump told reporters.
kb/sms (Reuters, AP, AFP)