Newly inaugurated President Donald Trump returned to storm-battered Asheville and Swannanoa on Friday and outlined a vague plan to abolish the Federal Emergency Management Agency and shift disaster-recovery responsibilities to state governments. 

Trump said he will issue an executive order “to begin the process of fundamentally reforming and overhauling FEMA, or maybe getting rid of FEMA,” which he described as “costing a tremendous amount of money, is very bureaucratic and is very slow.”

Although the centerpiece of the visit was a visit with families devastated by Tropical Storm Helene, the president’s comments Friday consisted heavily of an attack on former President Joe Biden and FEMA. 

“Biden did a bad job,” Trump said.

“You are not forgotten any longer,” he told local political leaders and supporters just minutes after landing at Asheville Regional Airport and the attacks continued at several points during the visit. “You’ve been treated very badly by the previous administration.”

His attacks on FEMA follow false claims he made in October when he visited Swannanoa. Then he said the agency was running out of money because funds were being diverted to help “illegal migrants” enter the country with the possible intention of illegally voting for Democrats in the election. 

At Buncombe County’s Helene briefing Wednesday, spokesperson Lillian Govus said FEMA had provided more than $100 million in individual assistance in the county and urged residents who hadn’t registered with the agency to do so. She also said 700 households in the county had qualified for rental assistance through FEMA.

The president’s visit was his first outside of Washington, D.C., since his inauguration Monday.  He said his staff urged him to go to Los Angeles first to meet with victims of southern California’s devastating wildfires. But he said first lady Melania Trump urged him to stop in western North Carolina along the way, which he agreed was the right decision.

“In the campaign I promised I’d come back to western North Carolina to help the people of the state and today, here I am to deliver on that promise,” he said.

At his meeting inside an airport hangar, Trump said he has directed his staff to speed up recovery by directing federal agencies to ignore normal permitting requirements and start construction immediately. And he said he has directed the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers to focus immediately on projects involving federal highways, bridges and watersheds. In late 2024, prior to his inauguration, the Corps spearheaded a $39 million six-month project to install a mobile filtration system at North Fork Reservoir.

Paramount in the effort, however, was getting FEMA out of the way. 

Trump: States should be responsible

In its place, Trump said he would require individual states to take over disaster relief and recovery projects, with the federal government’s role largely limited to paying a minor  percentage of the total costs.  

“If [North Carolina] did this from the beginning, it would have been done better,” he said. “That’s what we have states for; they take care of problems and a governor can handle something very quickly.” 

North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein, a Democrat who took office earlier this month, met Trump upon his landing and attended the airport meeting. He spoke privately with the president and reiterated the state’s need for federal relief assistance, according to a spokesperson, but he wasn’t invited to address the meeting nor accompany Trump on the visit to Swannanoa.

Despite their partisan differences, both appeared cordial to each other, and Trump said he expected to work closely with Stein in rebuilding the hard-hit region “bigger, better and stronger.” 

The president said he would immediately begin to shift federal responsibility for the post-Helene recovery effort away from FEMA and give it to an ad hoc committee of three Republican members of Congress – Chuck Edwards, Virginia Foxx and Tim Moore – and Republican National Committee chairman Michael Whatley, who lives in the state.

“I’m not really thinking about FEMA right now,” he said. “I’m thinking about Michael Whatley and the three congresspeople to handle this.”   

Edwards, whose district was ground-zero for the storm, has led the congressional effort to craft and direct a $116 billion federal appropriation to fund the region’s recovery, primarily through FEMA. But neither he nor any of the ad hoc committee has experience in disaster recovery efforts.  

Nor was its task made clear. The president’s off-the-cuff directive appeared to assign the four people the job of being a liaison between the state government and the White House.

‘Never seen such damage’

Trump seemed awestruck by Helene’s devastation, frequently commenting on its magnitude and impact on its victims.  

“When I came here, I couldn’t believe the damage,” he said. ‘I’ve never seen such damage done by water.”  

Among the several swipes he took at his predecessor, Trump blamed Biden for the suffering of the thousands of people who lost their homes and who continue to struggle to find shelter “in freezing, 20-degree weather.

“I don’t know how they did that one,” he continued, “because it was cold [in the area] even while your government provided shelter and housing for illegal aliens from all over the world. But under the Trump administration, the days of betrayal and neglect are over.”

The president traveled in a motorcade from the airport to one of the most hard-hit sections of Swannanoa. The tour was guided by evangelist Franklin Graham, the son of the late Billy Graham, who said he grew up nearby and considered it his home.  

The visit culminated in a news conference in the debris-strewn yard of one family’s heavily damaged house, where several victims described their experiences during the storm and in the following weeks as they sought assistance from FEMA and other organizations. Graham introduced the president to members of four families whose homes and businesses were lost. 

Trump responded with sympathy, criticism of FEMA, and effusive praise for Graham and the disaster-response organization he leads, Samaritan’s Purse, which has been active in the region.

 “FEMA has been a disaster no matter where they are,” the president said.

Voices of support for FEMA

Trump’s attacks on the agency weren’t shared by all. Swannanoa resident Lucy Bickers was among the several dozen people who lined a section of the main highway through Swannanoa along the motorcade’s route. She carried a hand-painted sign with the words “FEMA Helped Me.”

She said she waited in the chilly weather in the hope that the president would see that many people, including her, had been assisted by the federal agency and were grateful for its support.

“I’m here to provide some balance and get the word out that FEMA helped me and a lot of people I know,” Bickers said.  

Two other sign holders joined in the effort and to plead that FEMA’s rental assistance program extended indefinitely. The program is gradually being cut back and may expire in early February, although many victims remain without regular housing, they said.

“People are still sleeping in cold cars,” said Rene Rickman. “How safe is that?” 

Autumn Miller stood beside Rickman with a sign reading, “TRUMP, Many More Homeless on Jan. 25, Plz Extend Vouchers.”

Both acknowledged they wouldn’t know if the president noticed their signs as his limousine sped by. But Rickman said she hoped that anyone who did see her would understand that her intention wasn’t political. Rather, she said, it was an attempt to help desperate people in need of federal assistance. 

“Maybe if he understood the problem he would do something,” Rickman said.“We just want somebody to do something.” 

Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. Tom Fiedler is a Pulitzer Prize-winning political reporter and dean emeritus from Boston University who lives in Asheville. Email him at tfiedler@avlwatchdog.org. The Watchdog’s reporting is made possible by donations from the community. To show your support for this vital public service go to avlwatchdog.org/support-our-publication/.

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