Donald Trump has visited disaster areas in California and North Carolina and said he is considering “getting rid” of the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
In California the president flew over several neighbourhoods ravaged by wildfires in Marine One, the presidential helicopter.
He and first lady Melania Trump landed in Pacific Palisades, a particularly hard-hit community in Los Angeles that is home to some of the state’s rich and famous. The couple walked down a street where all the houses had burned down and talked to local residents.
“It is devastation. It really is an incineration,” Mr Trump said.
Mr Trump was greeted by California’s governor Gavin Newsom after Air Force One landed in Los Angeles and the pair appeared to be on cordial terms, despite the president having frequently attacked the governor, who he has called “Newscum”.
“We’re going to need your support. We’re going to need your help,” Mr Newsom told him.
At a news conference, when mayor Karen Bass said residents should be able to return to their homes within the week but keeping people safe from hazardous materials was a top priority, she was interrupted by Mr Trump, who said: “What’s hazardous waste? We’re going to have to define that.”
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The president has been critical of California’s water policies, specifically fish conservation efforts in the northern part of the state, which he has claimed made the recent fires worse.
He said he would “take a look at a fire that could have been put out if they let the water flow, but they didn’t let the water flow”.
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President calls FEMA ‘a disaster’
Earlier in the day Mr Trump visited North Carolina, which is still reeling from the effects of September’s Hurricane Helene, where he thought aloud about scrapping FEMA.
“FEMA has turned out to be a disaster,” Mr Trump said. “I think we recommend that FEMA go away.”
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The agency responds to natural disasters and can reimburse state governments for recovery efforts and provide stopgap financial assistance to affected residents. It has distributed $319m in financial assistance to people in North Carolina.
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Mr Trump said instead of financial assistance flowing through FEMA it could be provided directly from Washington to states in need.
“I’d like to see the states take care of disasters,” he said. “Let the state take care of the tornadoes and the hurricanes and all of the other things that happen.”
