President Donald Trump suggested doing away with FEMA in the wake of his criticisms over how Democratic lawmakers are responding to the wildfires in California and allowing the states to "take care of their own problems."
Trump who has been critical of Gov. Gavin Newson's response to the infernos that have been raging in the Los Angeles area for more than two weeks said the Federal Emergency Management Agency is "getting in the way of everything."
"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.
Trump, who signed a slew of executive orders on immigration and DEI initiatives since entering the White House on Monday, said if Oklahoma gets hit with tornadoes, "let Oklahoma fix it."
"And then the federal government can help them with the money. FEMA is getting in the way of everything," Trump said.
He also mentioned the devastation in North Carolina and other southern states from Hurricane Helene this fall and claimed that Democrats wrote off the state.
"The Democrats don't care about North Carolina. What they've done with FEMA is so bad," he told Hannity, adding that he would travel to the state on Friday to get an update on recovery efforts.
President Jimmy Carter established FEMA, which coordinates the response to natural disasters, by executive order in 1979.
It was folded into the Department of Homeland Security following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
