President Donald Trump has been tearing down the Federal Emergency Management Agency bit by bit since stepping back into office. And while Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told disaster survivors that she wants to reinforce the program, the Trump administration’s actions say otherwise.
In February, Noem toured a disaster zone in North Carolina—which is still recovering from Hurricane Helene that hit in September 2024—and promised survivors that she, alongside FEMA, would help rebuild and speed up the aid process for future disasters.
“FEMA can often be slow and confusing and a lot of paperwork. I heard that over and over and over again today. And we’re going to fix that. I’ll promise you one thing. President Trump has committed, and I’m committed with him to bringing FEMA into the 21st century,” she said.
But according to Smoky Mountain News, a county in North Carolina with about $15 million in Hurricane Helene damages has yet to receive a cent from FEMA.
“People are hearing promises, especially about FEMA buyouts, while we’re still waiting for money from 2021,” Canton Mayor Zeb Smathers said. “Our people deserve better than promises and timelines. It’s exceptionally stressful for our businesses, our homeowners, our governments, and our farmers.”
But Noem, like Trump, has a long history of targeting FEMA.
While Noem made elaborate promises to unhoused people trying to rebuild their lives, she was telling her colleagues behind the scenes that her plans were to “eliminate” FEMA altogether.
During a private meeting on March 25, Noem said that she wants to eliminate FEMA’s role in long-term rebuilding efforts and halt multibillion-dollar grants, putting the power into states’ hands. But experts say that states simply do not have the level of preparedness to handle such disasters.
On the bright side, U.S. District Court Judge John McConnell, who was appointed by President Barack Obama, ordered the Trump administration last week to begin paying out frozen FEMA grants to 22 Democratic states and Washington D.C.
Millions of dollars in disaster relief was withheld from these Democratic areas, which Trump made clear was his goal all along.
But with red states like North Carolina still awaiting their FEMA funding, it’s clear that Trump and Noem’s attacks against the organization are beneficial to no one.
