The acting head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency wrote to staff reassuring them that the agency's continued existence was vital to the country's disaster response efforts, after President Donald Trump said he wanted to overhaul or scrap it.

Notably, Trump’s executive order on FEMA does not seek to eliminate the agency; Congress would need to act to do that. The order instead underscores Trump’s interest in turning to outside advisers and private-sector companies to fill some typically governmental functions as he seeks to quickly accomplish his second-term goals.

Trump, in a visit to an area devastated by Hurricane Helene in North Carolina, said states should instead “take care of” disaster response.

Ahead of a tour of two states struck by natural disasters, President Donald Trump criticized the disaster response agency as “very bureaucratic” and “very slow.”

Just because you don’t see somebody in a FEMA shirt walking on the streets the day after a disaster doesn’t mean FEMA is not there.”

Trump suggested some states were more deserving of aid than others, and that the feds could step out of relief role

Speaking to reporters as he arrived in Asheville, North Carolina on Friday, President Donald Trump expressed his desire to eliminate FEMA, which stands for the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Trump bashed FEMA’s response to Hurricane Helene that devastated North Carolina in 2024.