Trump Suggests Eliminating FEMA Because ‘I’d Rather See States Take Care of Their Own Problems’
President Donald Trump floated the idea of eliminating the Federal Emergency Management Agency, stating that he would prefer that states take responsibility for recovering from disasters.
Trump gave an interview to Sean Hannity that aired Wednesday on Fox News. During the sit-down, the president rehashed many of his longstanding grievances, but his comment about FEMA broke new ground.
Hannity noted that Republicans have a thin majority in the House and asked Trump if he would like to see his agenda implemented in one massive bill or multiple pieces of legislation.
“I don’t care as long as we get to the final answer,” the president replied. “I like the concept of the one bill. I guess I said one big, beautiful bill… but I do like that concept. It could be something else. It could be a smaller bill and a big bill.”
Trump then addressed the recent wildfires in the Los Angeles area, which conservatives quickly blamed on Democratic officials in the state. In his response, the president suggested that FEMA be eliminated:
TRUMP: I will say that Los Angeles has changed everything because a lot of money is going to be necessary for Los Angeles and a lot of people on the other side want that to happen.
HANNITY: North Carolina, too.
TRUMP: Well, they don’t care about North Carolina. The Democrats don’t care about North Carolina. What they’ve done with FEMA is so bad. FEMA is a whole ‘nother discussion because all it does is complicate everything. FEMA has not done their job for the last four years. You know, I had FEMA working really well. We had hurricanes in Florida, we had Alabama, tornadoes. But unless you have certain types of leadership, it’s really– it gets in the way. And FEMA is gonna be a whole big discussion very shortly because I’d rather see the states take care of their own problems. If they a have tornado someplace, let that state– Oklahoma is very competent. I love Oklahoma. [I won] 77 out of 77 districts and that’s never been done before. I did it three times. I mean, think of it. Three times. Never been done. Ronald Reagan had the record, 56 out of 77. I got 77 out of 77. So, you have to love a place like that. I love Oklahoma. But you know what? If they get hit with the tornadoes or something, let Oklahoma fix it. You don’t need– and then the federal government can help them with the money. FEMA is getting in the way of everything.
Trump’s claim about being the first person to win every county in Oklahoma is false, as every Republican presidential candidate dating back to 2004 has swept the state’s counties.
Watch above via Fox News.
