During his first official visits to disaster-hit states since his return to office, US President Donald Trump leveraged the occasion to make bold and controversial political moves. On Friday, Trump toured wildfire-ravaged California and flood-stricken North Carolina, where he threatened to cut federal disaster aid, criticised the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and tied emergency relief to political conditions.
In California, Trump pledged federal support for the recovery efforts, acknowledging the devastation left by the fires as “incredible” and “an incineration.” However, he also warned that aid might be withheld unless the state implemented measures he demanded, including introducing voter ID laws and altering water management policies. Trump alleged California was wasting water, falsely suggesting that the state could solve its drought issues by simply “opening a valve.”
The president’s interactions with firefighters and officials in Los Angeles quickly took a contentious turn as he claimed the state had an unlimited water supply and criticised FEMA’s efficiency, describing it as incompetently run and unnecessarily expensive. In North Carolina, Trump echoed similar criticisms of FEMA, blaming the agency for inadequate responses to past disasters. He announced plans to sign an executive order to overhaul or possibly dismantle FEMA altogether.
Trump’s disaster zone tour coincided with an intensified focus on immigration, a cornerstone of his political resurgence. His administration reported the arrest of 593 undocumented migrants on Friday, following 538 arrests the previous day, and highlighted the use of military aircraft for deportations, a shift from the civilian flights used under his predecessor, Joe Biden. Migrant deportation flights to Guatemala and Mexico continued, with Trump justifying the measures as targeting “bad, hard criminals.”
Additionally, Trump signed an executive order revoking abortion access protections introduced during Biden’s administration, reversing funding for abortion services abroad, and restricting domestic access following the Supreme Court’s controversial ruling to overturn the constitutional right to abortion.
The day ended with Trump narrowly securing Senate confirmation for his nominee for defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, a former Fox News co-host. Vice President J.D. Vance cast the tie-breaking vote, marking only the second instance in US history where a vice president intervened to confirm a cabinet nominee.
