As a presidential candidate in October 2024, Donald Trump attacked the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s response to Hurricane Helene in North Carolina—by lying about it.
“They’re offering them $750, to people whose homes have been washed away,” he falsely claimed at a campaign rally. “And yet we send tens of billions of dollars to foreign countries that most people have never heard of. … Think of it: We give foreign countries hundreds of billions of dollars, and we’re handing North Carolina $750.”
He also took to Truth Social, writing“[I] don’t like the reports that I’m getting about the Federal Government, and the Democrat Governor of the State, going out of their way to not help people in Republican areas.”
Then Trump got elected—and slashed the aid. Days ago, Trump’s FEMA denied the state’s request for the agency to equally match the state funds for hurricane cleanup, according to ABC News.
It wasn’t just North Carolina, either. Disaster victims in Arkansa, Kentucky, Missouriand West Virginia have also been left hanging. Texas received some supportso Trump isn’t shutting it all down. But it’s clear he meant what he said about FEMA when touring fire-ravaged Los Angeles in January, “I say you don’t need FEMA, you need a good state government. FEMA is a very expensive, in my opinion, mostly failed situation.”
The irony is brutal: Red states receive more in federal disaster aid. Blue states have been subsidizing their disaster recoveries for years. Now, thanks to those red states’ voting habits, they’re on their own.
FEMA is even cutting flood prevention projects that primarily benefit rural, Republican-voting areas. That includes $1 billion in canceled flood-related projects in Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay region, represented in the House by Republican Andy Harris, chair of the far-right Freedom Caucus.
“We were made aware of this cancellation in funds and are reaching out to the appropriate federal agencies for a better understanding of this decision,” Harris’ office said in a statement.
That funding isn’t optional—it’s existential. The Chesapeake Bay Journal reports that models show the Bay could rise high enough by 2050 to cause daily floods that could stall cars on roads. Climate change, which Harris deniescould submerge whole portions of his district.
Even more dire is the situation in Appalachia. The Guardian reports that FEMA’s retreat could wipe small towns off the map. Many of these communities are so dependent on FEMA—and agencies like the National Weather Service and National Science Foundation—that without them, they may cease to exist.
“A lot of people here would not know what to do without FEMA’s help,” one local storm victim told the outlet. “We need more information about the weather, better warnings, because the rains are getting worse.”
Geologist Ryan Thigpen sounded the alarm, warning, “This is where most people are going to die unless we create reliable warning systems and model future flood risks for mitigation and to help mountain communities plan for long-term resilience. Otherwise, these extreme flooding events could be the end of southern Appalachia.”
But what do scientists know, anyway? Trump won nearly 70% of West Virginia’s vote last year. Appalachia is deep red—and deeply distrustful of government, expertise, and the very institutions trying to save them.
Back in Maryland’s flood-prone Chesapeake region, a man wearing a Trump T-shirt complained to the Chesapeake Bay Journal that the floods were hurting his vacation rental business. “People come down here, and if they have to wear boots, they aren’t coming back,” he said.
Asked whether he regretted voting for Trump now that FEMA nixed flood prevention projects in the region, he said“I think if he did it, he did it for a reason.”
Trump did do it for a reason: because he doesn’t give a rat’s ass about you.
Campaign Action
