LOS ANGELES: US President Donald Trump visited disaster zones in North Carolina and California on Friday, using the first trip since his return to office to turn emergency aid into a political cudgel.
Trump said he would sign an order that could scrap the federal disaster agency, stepping up his effort to exert presidential power over the levers of government and to decide which states get money from Washington. The Republican billionaire also threatened to withhold funding for Democratic-led California—a long-term target of his ire—to deal with devastating wildfires if it does not follow his orders.
But faced with the destruction left by terrifying fires that ravaged California, Trump was emollient, pledging the “federal government (is) standing behind you. 100 percent.” “I don’t think you can realize how rough it is, how devastating it is, until you see it,” he said after flying over the damaged areas.
“I mean, I saw a lot of bad things on television, but the extent of it, the size of it... it is devastation. It’s incredible. It’s really an incineration.” Trump’s comments came after he threatened to withhold assistance if California does not change laws which he says allow undocumented migrants to vote—and linked that to a false claim that the state could solve its drought by simply opening a valve.
“In California I have a condition,” he said. “I want two things, I want voter ID for the people of California... and I want to see the water be released and come down.”
In Los Angeles a briefing with politicians and firefighters that began with empathy quickly derailed as Trump began claiming California had an “unlimited” supply of water. He then embarked on an extended complaint about the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
“FEMA is incompetently run, and it costs about three times more than it should cost,” he said. Speaking in North Carolina earlier, where floods caused by Hurricane Helene last year killed more than 100 people in the state, he said that FEMA had “really let us down.” Trump said he would sign an executive order to overhaul or even get rid of FEMA. “We’re going to recommend that FEMA go away,” he said.
Deportation flights
Trump’s tour came as his administration also kept the focus on migration, one of the key issues that fueled the 78-year-old’s extraordinary political comeback. The White House trumpeted the arrest of 593 undocumented migrants on Friday, after 538 arrests on Thursday.
It said it had deported “hundreds” of migrants on military aircraft—a departure from the normal use of civilian planes. By comparison, under Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden there were a total of 270,000 deportations in 2024 -- a 10-year record—and 113,400 arrests, making an average of 310 per day.
Separately, the US Senate narrowly confirmed former Fox News co-host Pete Hegseth as Pentagon chief on Friday, despite allegations of alcohol abuse, sexual misconduct and other fears about his ability to lead the world’s most powerful military. Three Republican senators voted against Donald Trump’s pick as secretary of defense, resulting in a 50-50 tie that required J.D. Vance to cast the deciding ballot—only the second time in history a vice president has had to intervene to save a cabinet nominee. The razor-edged result underscored concerns about Hegseth, who will take over the Pentagon with war raging in Ukraine, the Middle East volatile despite ceasefires in Lebanon and Gaza, and as Trump expands the military’s role in security on the US-Mexico border.
The 44-year-old is a former Army National Guard officer who until recently worked as a co-host for Fox News—one of Trump’s favored television channels. Hegseth has a combative media personality, fierce loyalty and telegenic looks—common hallmarks in Trump’s entourage.
Supporters say Hegseth’s deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq give him the insight to run the Defense Department better than more experienced officials who would normally be considered for the job.
He has pledged to focus the military on “lethality” and to bring back “warrior culture” to the Pentagon.
In confirming him, Republicans brushed aside his lack of experience leading an organization anywhere near the size of the Defense Department—the country’s largest employer with some three million personnel. They also approved Hegseth despite allegations of financial mismanagement at veterans’ nonprofits where he previously worked, reports of excessive drinking, and allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman in California.
Asked during his confirmation hearing last week about criticism he has faced, Hegseth said there was a “coordinated smear campaign” against him, and that he is “not a perfect person, but redemption is real.” Trump has stood by him, telling reporters Friday: “Pete’s a very, very good man.”
Shortly after he was confirmed, Trump wrote on his Social Truth platform: “Congratulations to Pete Hegseth. He will make a great Secretary of Defense!” - AFP