He may not be the president anymore, but Joe Biden is still finding ways to shock his successor.
President Donald Trump admitted as much after he visited the still-ravaged Tar Heel state on Friday, according to WCNC-TV.
Speaking to reporters in North Carolina, Trump admitted that he couldn’t believe what he saw of the state in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, which left 104 people dead after it made landfall in late September 2024.
In short, it’s still a disaster zone, all these months later, and Trump has some questions about what exactly the Federal Emergency Management Agency will do about it.
That is, if Trump even gives them the chance.
“FEMA has been a very big disappointment,” Trump told the media, per WCNC. “They cost a tremendous amount of money, it’s very bureaucratic, and it’s very slow.
“Other than that, we’re very happy with them.”
“You’ve had nothing but disaster since then,” Trump said of FEMA under the Biden administration.
The president added: “Biden did a bad job. Some residents still don’t have hot water, drinking water or anything else, and many of them don’t have quarters.
Should FEMA be abolished?
Yes: 94% (32 Votes)
No: 6% (2 Votes)
“They don’t have anything. They got a stipend for what they lost, and we’re going to take care of it. This is totally unacceptable, and I’ll be taking strong action to get North Carolina the support that you need to quickly recover and rebuild.”
The way WCNC describes it, Trump views FEMA as an unnecessary middle-man after the botched response to Helene and wants to hold them accountable.
“Trump said he was going to recommend FEMA goes away, instead paying states directly for their work and cutting out the federal agency that ‘complicates’ recovery,” the outlet reported.
“We’d pay a percentage to the state, but the state should fix this,” Trump further explained. “If the state did this from the beginning, it would have been a lot better situation.”
[embedded content]
It should come as little surprise that Trump is putting the eradication of FEMA on the table.
The president is an outspoken supporter of cutting back on government unwieldiness, going so far as to create an entire Department of Government Efficiency to tackle issues like budgetary waste.
But perhaps more so than Trump’s stated desire to cut back on government excess, the president has also put his money where his mouth is when it comes to North Carolina.
Back in October 2024, just days after Helene hit, Trump and Elon Musk both cut out the middle-man to help provide internet access to the victims.
Other charity groups took a similar cue and also worked around FEMA to bring direct relief to victims.
Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.
