U.S. President Donald Trump visited disaster-hit western North Carolina on Friday and was traveling later to Los Angeles, promising help while stoking partisan tensions with Democratic rivals over recovery efforts.

Donald Trump, who has been a vocal critic of the Biden administration’s response to Hurricane Helene, which struck North Carolina in September 2024, said that he would like to see states assume more responsibility in the aftermath of natural disasters, rather than the federal government.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is heading to hurricane-battered western North Carolina and wildfire-ravaged Los Angeles on Friday, using the first trip of his second administration to tour areas where politics has clouded the response to deadly disasters.

In North Carolina Friday, President Donald Trump said he would sign an executive order aimed at what he said would address problems inherent to FEMA.

Donald and Melania Trump are stopping in North Carolina, California and Nevada during the first second term trip. Follow along for live updates.

After wearing Dior, Prada and other designer labels over the Inaugural weekend, FLOTUS stepped out Friday in Rag & Bone.

While President Donald Trump was expected to head from D.C. to Los Angeles on Friday, he announced that he will be traveling to North Carolina first.

In North Carolina, the president pledged “the support that you need to quickly recover and rebuild” after a hurricane. His message to fire-ravaged California had a different tone.

President Donald Trump said he's considering "getting rid of" FEMA as he hit the road for the first time since his second inauguration, visiting victims of Hurricane Helene and the California wildfires.

Trump says he’ll have Republican National Committee chair Michael Whatley working on hurricane relief matters instead of using the Federal Emergency Management Agency

Speaking to reporters, the president predicted future disasters would need “probably less FEMA, because FEMA just hasn’t done the job. And we’re looking at the whole concept of FEMA.”

U.S. President Donald Trump headed to disaster-hit western North Carolina and Los Angeles on Friday in a trip that could inflame partisan tensions over recovery efforts. Trump's first trip since recla