Trump wants to “wean” states off FEMA help after hurricane season - National & International News - WED 11Jun2025 -

Trump wants to “wean” states off FEMA assistance after hurricane season.

LA ICE protests wind down as military incursion ramps up.

Trump wants to “wean” states off FEMA assistance after hurricane season

During remarks in the Oval Office, President Trump told reporters that he wanted to “wean” states off of assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Instead, he proposes devolving primary responsibility for disaster response to the state level.

Trump has previously said he wanted to eliminate FEMA altogether. Now he and other members of his administration seem to envision FEMA playing more of a supporting role in disaster response going forward. In this scenario, FEMA’s primary responsibility would be to provide supplemental federal funding in the event of the disasters, rather than coordinating disaster response on the ground. Trump also said the White House would be awarding money directly and that they would be giving “less money” in future.

“When you have a tornado or a hurricane or you have a problem of any kind in a state, that’s what you have governors for,” Trump said. “They’re supposed to fix those problems, and it’s much more local and they’ll develop a system, and it will be a great system”. The “system” Trump proposes would involve cooperation from neighboring states when disasters strike.

Earlier this year, the Trump Administration fired more than 200 probationary FEMA workers and overhauled contract renewals for two-thirds of FEMA’s workforce. Prior to downsizing and layoffs, FEMA had a budget of about $30 billion per year and employed over 20,000 people.

In recent months, when disasters like floods and tornadoes struck, there were considerable delays in approval for federal funds following requests from states, including Mississippi and Arkansas. In May, Trump finally approved federal assistance for a destructive tornado outbreak that struck Arkansas and Mississippi in mid-March. Approval came well over a month after governors Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Tate Reeves requested assistance.

Trump’s comments today seemed to indicate that FEMA will function more-or-less as normal during the upcoming hurricane season. This season is expected to see an above-average number of named storms. Experts predict three to five storms of Category 3 or higher.

LA protests wind down as military incursion ramps up

After five days of protests and hundreds of arrests, the city of Los Angeles seems to have returned to a relative state of calm. After several nights of unrest, LA Mayor Karen Bass instituted a curfew last night of 8PM to 6AM. Overnight, over 200 people were arrested for “failure to disperse”.

Nevertheless, ICE raids continue within the city and throughout the state of California. It’s uncertain whether the calm will hold once 4000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines descend upon the city.

Protests have spread to other US cities, including Memphis, Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, New York, Portland, and Seattle. In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott has mobilized the National Guard in response to planned protests in San Antonio.

“Remember, you are dealing with Americans”

Maj. Gen. Scott Sherman says the troops deployed in Los Angeles will be empowered to temporarily detain individuals until law enforcement can come and arrest them. Their mission in LA is to protect federal agents as they carry out immigration raids, not to conduct law enforcement activities or crowd control. However, the Marines are currently taking a two-day course on handling civil disturbances, Sherman said.

LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell also says that the guard and the Marines are there to “facilitate what the federal agencies are doing on the immigration front”. McDonnell also said, “We don’t need the National Guard, and they are not here to help us right now”. He said it is “not our understanding” that the troops are there to help with protests or crowd control.

However, McDonnell voiced concerns about what could happen when the military is interacting with the public. “Anytime anybody comes into the city and we are not clear on what rules and responsibilities are, there’s a concern. I worry for our own people,” McDonnel said.

These concerns were echoed by Arturo Flores, mayor of Huntington Park in southern LA County, himself a Marine combat veteran. Flores reminded his Marine brethren: “These are Americans. Whether they have a document or they don’t, you’re dealing with Americans. So please remember that if you’re ever put in a situation or asked to do something, remember, you are dealing with Americans”.

Flores added, “When we lifted our hands and we swore the oath to defend the constitution and to defend this country, that oath was to the American people. It was not to a dictator, it was not to a tyrant, it was not the president. It was to the American people”.