President Donald Trump hovered on Friday from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) when he visited Western North Carolina to investigate the damage and recovery efforts by the hurricane Helene.
Trump said that he would reform an executive regulation “fundamentally … or perhaps by the Federal Administrative Agency of the Bundeskatastrophen Management”.
“The Fema was a great disappointment,” he said during a briefing next to the officials of North Carolina in Asheville. “They cost enormously money. It is very bureaucratic, it is very leisurely. “
It is not immediately clear what the scale or details of such a decision could look like. Required by the reporters to find out about the proposal, Trump said that he would prefer the states to receive direct payments from the Federal Government instead of coordinating with the FEMA.
“If you have such a problem … whether it is a Democrat or a Republican governor, you want to apply your state to fix it not to waste time. give that you have never heard of.
The recovery efforts in Western North Carolina were disabled by an unprecedented disaster situation, with widespread flooding and destroyed infrastructure isolating the mountain communities. A rash of misinformation spread online – including Trump – also the process and the relief scale at the state and federal level.
During his remarks on Friday, Trump blew up the former administration because of her treatment of the disaster, Citing a separate case in Florida Where a Fema worker asked the responders to avoid houses with a pro-trump sign. He also repeated the wrong claim that Fema money was redirected to the accommodation for migrants without papers.
“At that time it doesn’t matter, bidges did a bad job,” he said.
Trump said he typed Michael Whaley, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, who used to head the GOP in North Carolina to lead auxiliary measures.
“If he does half as good for North Carolina as for my campaign, we will be very happy,” said Trump.
The president became the briefing of Josh Stein, governor of North Carolina, a democrat with whom the president said he would “have a very long and good relationship”.
In a statement, Stein Trump thanked for the visit and called it a “positive signal” that was his first visit to North Carolina. He said he asked for $ 20 billion additional relief and another six months full of Fema refund.
The statement did not deal with Trump’s comments on the “race” of the Fema.
“Families, companies and communities fight and need these urgent resources to help them rebuild,” said Stein. “I look forward to working with the Trump administration in the coming weeks and months to get people what they need to rebuild and recover.”
First Lady Melania Trump, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, North Carolina US representatives Chuck Edwards, Tim Moore and Virginia Foxx, North Carolina House Speaker Destin Hall were also present.
The Democratic US representative Deborah Ross von Wake County has pushed back Trump’s proposal to “get rid of” the Fema on social media.
“The Fema was a crucial partner in our struggle for the recovery of hurricane Helene,” Ross wrote on social media. “I appreciate President Trump’s concern for Western NC, but the elimination of the Fema would be a disaster for our state.”
The Asheville visit is Trump’s first trip outside of Washington since his ultimate intervention for his second term. A trip to fire -controlled Los Angeles followed.
