JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
President Trump is visiting disaster zones in North Carolina and California today, and while on the ground, he made some news. He said he plans to sign an executive order to overhaul the Federal Emergency Management Agency, known as FMA, or possibly even get rid of it. NPR White House correspondent Asma Khalid joins us now. Hi.
ASMA KHALID, BYLINE: Hi, Juana.
SUMMERS: Asma, let's start off with this news. Tell us what exactly the president said about FEMA.
KHALID: Juana, he's been really critical of FEMA's response, saying it was too slow and too bureaucratic in how it handled the recovery of Hurricane Helene, which I'm sure you'll remember struck the East Coast in late September right in the middle of that presidential campaign. Trump said that FEMA has not helped people enough, and so he's planning to look at the whole structure of it.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: When you have a problem like this, I think you want to go and, whether it's a Democrat or Republican governor, you want to use your state to fix it and not waste time calling FEMA and then FEMA gets here and they don't know the area.
KHALID: Trump did not offer a whole lot of details about his vision, and he sidestepped questions about the timeline for any FEMA changes.
SUMMERS: Asma, I just want to make sure I understand here. President Trump is saying that he might actually shut down FEMA?
KHALID: Well, that is what it sounded like. And I want folks to take a listen to him directly again.
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TRUMP: FEMA is a very expensive organization that really doesn't work out very well. It hasn't. This is not the only example, so. If it was up to me right now, I'd end it right now, and I just - let the state take care of the problem.
KHALID: You heard there, he said, if it was up to me - because, to be clear, to shutters FEMA would require congressional action. You know, that being said, this is an idea that was echoed in Project 2025, which was that massive blueprint that made a lot of news during the campaign, from the Conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation.
You know, I will say broadly, though, the idea of reforming FEMA in some way, that is an idea that has been out there for some time. I spoke to Linda Langston about this. She was appointed during the Obama administration to FEMA's National Advisory Council. She feels that Trump, though, is mischaracterizing how FEMA actually functions.
LINDA LANGSTON: The nature of FEMA is to really support the state and local efforts. FEMA, in many cases, is not the one doing the actual work.
KHALID: She told me that there has always been this tension between local, state and federal government when it comes to disaster recovery. And there is certainly room for improvement, but in times of disaster, she said federal money is critical. States cannot go it alone.
SUMMERS: This is President Trump's first trip of his new term. So tell us a bit more about what his message was today.
KHALID: That's right. It is indeed his first trip. And one of the main jobs a president has is to be the consoler in chief, you know, offer solace in these critical moments. And Trump is certainly trying to do that. He met with families impacted by the disasters and said that he's signing a new executive order to slash all, quote, "red tape" and permits to ensure a quick reconstruction of roads in western North Carolina. But he's also blamed the former president, Joe Biden, for the slow recovery. And to be clear here, there is no evidence that the former administration withheld any money in its response efforts.
SUMMERS: And what about the politics of California? That's where President Trump is headed next.
KHALID: Yeah. I mean, Trump's had a different response to the California fires. He's been very critical of the state's water management policies. California's Democratic governor disputes Trump's claims. There are, of course, a lot of Democrats in Congress from California, and Trump sees the aid money that the state is going to need as possible leverage. He thinks he might be able to get some support for some of his other priorities by using aid.
SUMMERS: NPR's Asma Khalid, thank you.
KHALID: Good to speak with you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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