WASHINGTON (AFP) – United States (US) President Donald Trump floated ending federal disaster relief and leaving states to fend for themselves during emergencies in his first Oval Office interview since returning to power.
With Los Angeles scorched by wildfires and the eastern US still recovering from two devastating hurricanes, Trump falsely accused the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) of turning its back on victims.
“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 tornados,” Trump told Fox News. “But unless you have certain types of leadership, it gets in the way. 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.”
Trump’s remarks came as an explosive new wildfire erupted north of Los Angeles, forcing tens of thousands of people to evacuate their homes and setting nerves jangling in an area still reeling from two deadly blazes.
Trump and Republicans in Congress have said that help for California should be conditioned on the actions of the state’s Democratic leaders, despite making no such suggestion when storms killed more than 100 people and caused destructive flooding across the US southeast.
Trump’s freewheeling press conferences and interviews distinguish him from previous presidents, particularly Joe Biden, who almost never agreed to sit down for detailed conversations with journalists.
The Republican was praised during his campaign for his embrace of podcasts, YouTube and other new media, but he went with tradition for the pre-taped primetime appearance, sitting down with Fox News star and staunch loyalist Sean Hannity.
