OAN Staff Blake Wolf
4:15 PM – Friday, January 24, 2025
Before President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania touched down in California, they first visited officials and survivors of the devastating September hurricane in North Carolina on Friday, criticizing former President Joe Biden’s response to the tragedy.
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During the North Carolina visit, Trump met with local politicians and other officials — spearheading Hurricane Helene recovery efforts while slamming the Biden administration and FEMA for not prioritizing aid relief to help affected residents.
Trump also highlighted that some residents are still without drinking water, in addition to noting that locals have not been adequately compensated following the devastating storm.
“Biden did a bad job. Some residents still don’t have hot water, drinking water or anything else and many of them don’t have [living] quarters. They don’t have anything. They got a stipend for what they lost and we’re going to take care of it. This is totally unacceptable, and I’ll be taking strong action to get North Carolina the support that you need to quickly recover and rebuild,” Trump declared.
Local leaders agreed that the Biden administration failed the citizens of North Carolina, while Trump vowed to overhaul the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) since the agency “has really let us down and the country.”
“I’ll also be signing an executive order to begin the process of fundamentally reforming and overhauling FEMA, or maybe getting rid of FEMA,” Trump stated during his visit. “I think, frankly, FEMA is not good.”
Trump continued to meet with residents who were affected by the hurricane, listening to their devastating experiences — as many of them lost their homes, belongings, relatives, pets, and more.
“We’re here to show the president just a little bit of the damage and the problems that the people of western North Carolina are facing,” stated local Pastor Franklin Graham.
Hurricane Helene, which hit last September, reportedly resulted in the destruction of 73,000 homes along with the deaths of 104 people.
“I’ve seen a lot of bad things, but I’ve never seen anything like it,” Trump stated.
Meanwhile, the 45th and 47th president also visited California later in the day — in order to get a better understanding of the ongoing fires plaguing Los Angeles and its surrounding areas.
Trump has criticized California Governor Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) for being entirely unprepared for the fires while prioritizing an endangered fish over human lives and the city’s infrastructure. Trump announced that the water supply that could have been utilized in the L.A. firefighting efforts had been rerouted to the Pacific Ocean — due to Newsom’s efforts related to saving an endangered fish.
“I want to see the water be released and come down into Los Angeles and throughout the state,” Trump stated on Friday. “If they released the water when I told them to, because I told them to do it seven years ago, if they would’ve done it, you wouldn’t have had the problem.”
On Friday, Newsom could be seen waiting for Trump’s arrival on the tarmac.
Newsom and Trump seemingly appeared to put their political differences aside during the meet up — smiling and greeting each other with a handshake, despite their back-and-forth quarrels online and in interviews.
“We’re looking to get something completed, and the way you get it completed is to work together. He’s the governor of this state,” Trump stated.
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