"For the past four years, FEMA has failed to fulfill its duties. The US president remarked, "You know, I had FEMA working really well."
US President Donald Trump suggested on Wednesday that states should "take care of their own problems" and that federal disaster assistance should be discontinued in his first interview since he returned to the White House.As flames decimated portions of Los Angeles and the eastern United States is still recovering from two hurricanes, Donald Trump accused the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) of abandoning victims in an interview with Fox News.
"For the past four years, FEMA has failed to fulfill its duties. I had FEMA functioning quite effectively, you know. In the interview, Donald Trump stated, "We had tornadoes in Alabama and hurricanes in Florida."
A lack of "certain types of leadership" gets in the way, he said. "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," the president stated.
Trump's comments were made against the backdrop of yet another fast-moving wildfire that was tearing through a neighborhood in northwest Los Angeles, California. Fifty thousand people have been warned or ordered to evacuate due to the Hughes Fire in Castaic.
Despite firefighters' intense efforts, the fire, which started late Wednesday morning, is still completely out of control. Over 9,000 acres of land have been burned by the fire thus far.
Trump also claimed that the drying up of fire hydrants in metropolitan areas is a result of California's fish conservation efforts in the northern section of the state.
He accused Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom of being to blame for LA's inability to control the devastating flames.
Trump stated, "I don't believe we should give California anything until they let the water run down."
President Trump will travel to western North Carolina, which is recuperating from the destruction caused by Hurricane Helene over three months ago, and Southern California, which is currently dealing with the aftermath of wildfires, on Friday.
Even though they made no such suggestion when storms killed over 100 people and caused massive flooding throughout the US southeast, Trump and the Republicans in the US Congress have notably stated that aid for California should be contingent on the actions of the state's Democratic leaders, according to an AFP report.
Trump also defended his immigration policies, his extending of the federal ban on TikTok, his pardons for the prisoners of the January 6, 2021 Capitol storming, and his potential to stop providing federal funding to so-called "sanctuary cities" that shield undocumented migrants during the interview.
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