WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥 President Donald Trump is preparing to reshape the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which has been on the frontlines of responding to recent wildfires in California and last year's hurricane in North Carolina.
He spoke at length about the issue with congressional Republican leaders on Tuesday, discussing whether the agency known as FEMA should continue providing assistance to states in the same way, according to a person familiar with the conversation and granted anonymity to discuss it.
Conservatives have previously suggested reducing the amount that states are reimbursed for preventing and responding to disasters like floods, tornadoes, hurricanes and more.
Trump was critical of the agency with of Fox News, saying 鈥淔EMA has not done their job for the last four years" and 鈥淔EMA is getting in the way of everything.鈥
The Republican president plans to visit North Carolina, which was devastated by Hurricane Helene in September, and California, which is reeling from some of the most destructive fires in its history, on Friday for his first trip since taking office on Monday.
North Carolina has been a focal point for Republican criticism of FEMA, some of it rooted in . For example, conservatives claimed on social media that hurricane victims were only receiving $750 in relief even if they suffered devastating losses, but the payments were only meant to be a stopgap for emergency expenses until additional assistance could be distributed.
Rising hostility led to concerns that FEMA workers could be .
Trump also suggested that during the interview with Hannity.
"I don鈥檛 think we should give California anything until they let water flow down into their system," he said.
The president has that the California water policies, which involve fish conservation efforts in the northern part of the state, allowed fire hydrants to run dry in Los Angeles during the fires.
Republican House Speaker , who comes from disaster prone Louisiana, has suggested conditioning federal aid to California.
Congress just last year replenished the federal disaster aid fund by $100 billion as part of a massive year-end appropriations bill signed into law by President in the aftermath of back-to-back hurricanes Helene and Milton.
But damages from the California fires are expected to tally as among the most expensive natural disaster in the nation鈥檚 history.
Trump made Cameron Hamilton, a former Navy SEAL and unsuccessful Republican congressional candidate from Virginia, the agency's interim administrator. Hamilton previously worked on emergency management issues for the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State, but he has limited experience handling natural disasters.
He's been critical of FEMA on social media and outspoken about increasing security along the southern border, where the agency's resources could be redirected.
, a conservative blueprint for Trump's second term prepared by the president's allies, included dramatic proposals for FEMA.
The plan called for dismantling DHS and relocating FEMA to the Department of Interior or the Department of Transportation.
In addition, it suggested changing the formula that the agency uses to determine when federal disaster assistance is warranted, shifting the costs of preventing and responding to disasters to states.
The federal reimbursement rate would be set at 25% of costs for smaller disasters and capped at 75% for larger ones.
Presidents can currently authorize the reimbursement of some expenses at 100%, as Biden did for some costs from Hurricane Helene and the California fires.
About 6 in 10 voters in November鈥檚 election approved of how FEMA was handling its job, according to AP VoteCast. Roughly 4 in 10 disapproved, but the number was higher among Trump's voters. Two thirds of them said they disapproved of how FEMA was handling its job.
_____ Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro, Zeke Miller and Linley Sanders contributed reporting.
