President Donald Trump went on Fox News' "Hannity" Wednesday to complain about the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), accusing it of "getting in the way of everything" and promising to have a "whole big discussion very shortly" on its fate.
Officials in the Trump administration and the president himself have spoken of plans to overhaul parts of the federal government or eliminate them completely, and in many cases have set those plans in motion. His comments about FEMA on "Hannity" raised concerns that he might strip funding from an agency that coordinated the federal response to the natural disasters in Los Angeles and Asheville.
The text of Project 2025, whose authors are closely connected with or hold official positions in the Trump administration, suggests "reforming FEMA emergency spending to shift the majority of preparedness and response costs to states and localities instead of the federal government."
Trump echoed its proposal in his interview with Sean Hannity, saying he'd "rather see the states take care of their own problems" and that the federal government should only provide money if the state decided they needed it later, using the example of tornadoes in Oklahoma to illustrate his point. The president had previously accused FEMA of acting in a biased manner against Republicans affected by disaster, including those living in western North Carolina during Hurricane Helene, even though the agency just announced Monday that it was extending its Transitional Sheltering Assistance program in western North Carolina for two months.
Minutes later, Trump said that the federal government should not give California "anything" in the wake of devastating wildfires in Los Angeles until its Democratic government changes its water policy, which he blames for the shortage of water to combat the flames, to his liking.
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