US President Donald Trump is heading to hurricane-battered western North Carolina and wildfire-ravaged Los Angeles on Friday, using the first trip of his second administration to tour areas where politics has clouded the response to deadly disasters.
The Republican president has criticised his predecessor Joe Biden for his administration’s response in North Carolina.
He has also showered disdain on Californian leaders for water policies that he falsely claimed worsened the recent blazes and said he is considering overhauling the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
A firefighter hoses down flames In Los Angeles. (Jae C Hong/AP)
Some of his conservative allies have proposed reducing how much the agency reimburses states for handling floods, hurricanes, tornadoes and other calamities.
The White House has asked California congressional members, including Democrats, to hold a round table discussion at an aeroplane hanger in Santa Monica during Trump’s visit, according to a person briefed on the plans who demanded anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss them.
Mr Trump has suggested using federal disaster assistance as a bargaining chip during unrelated legislative negotiations over government borrowing or as leverage to persuade California to change its water policies.
“Southern California and California has always been there for other regions of the country in their time of crisis, and we expect our country to be there for us,” Democratic Senator Alex Padilla said this week.
Mr Trump has a history of injecting politics and falsehoods into disaster response.
Debris is seen in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in September 2024 (Mike Stewart/AP)
During his first term, he talked about limiting help for Democratic states that did not support him, according to former administration officials.
While running for president last year, he claimed without evidence that Democrats were “going out of their way to not help people in Republican areas” of the battleground state of North Carolina.
More recently, he has falsely insisted that California water policies, specifically fish conservation efforts in the northern part of the state, contributed to hydrants running dry in the Los Angeles area.
“I don’t think we should give California anything until they let the water run down,” Mr Trump said in an interview with Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity on Wednesday.
The president also suggested shifting more responsibility to individual states for managing disasters.
“I’d rather see the states take care of their own problems,” he told Hannity, adding that “FEMA is getting in the way of everything.”
President Donald Trump speaks in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on Wednesday (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP)
Michael Coen, who served as chief of staff at FEMA during the Biden administration, said Mr Trump was “misinformed” about an agency that provides critical help to states when they are overwhelmed by catastrophe.
In addition, Mr Coen criticised the idea of attaching strings to assistance.
“You’re going to pick winners and losers on which communities are going to be supported by the federal government,” he said.
“I think the American people expect the federal government will be there for them on their worst day, no matter where they live.”