Donald Trump has never been one to mince words when it comes to federal bureaucracy, but his latest target is one that has caught a lot of people off guard. During a series of briefings and visits to disaster-stricken areas in early 2025 and moving into 2026, the message has been blunt. Basically, Trump says FEMA only complicates things, and he’s increasingly vocal about wanting the agency to "go away" or at least undergo a radical downsizing that most experts didn’t see coming.
It’s not just talk anymore. In January 2025, right after taking office again, he signed an executive order to form the FEMA Review Council. The goal? To figure out if the Federal Emergency Management Agency should even exist in its current form. While standing in the mud of North Carolina and looking at the aftermath of the previous year's storms, he told reporters that FEMA had become a "disaster" itself. He thinks the states should be the ones in the driver’s seat.
The Argument Against the Agency
Why the sudden push to dismantle a 46-year-old agency? Honestly, Trump’s beef with FEMA boils down to two things: money and red tape. He’s argued that the federal government is basically acting as a giant insurance company for states that aren't preparing well enough on their own.
"I love Oklahoma," Trump said during a Fox News interview. "But you know what? If they get hit with a tornado or something, let Oklahoma fix it." His logic is that by the time the federal "alphabet soup" of agencies gets involved, the actual help is buried under mountains of paperwork. He’s called the agency "extremely expensive" and "very slow."
According to the administration, the current system creates a "moral hazard." If states know the feds will always swoop in with a checkbook, they have less incentive to build better sea walls or manage their own rainy-day funds.
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A Shift to "State-First" Recovery
The White House is already moving toward a "wean off" strategy. During an Oval Office briefing in June 2025, Trump set a loose timeline: he wants to start phasing out FEMA’s primary roles after the 2025 hurricane season.
The idea is to shift the financial burden back to governors. In Trump’s view, if a governor can't handle a disaster in their own backyard, maybe they shouldn't be the governor. It's a harsh take, but it aligns with his broader goal of gutting the "Administrative State."
What’s Actually Changing on the Ground?
It isn't just rhetoric; the gears are already turning. Here is a look at how this policy is actually playing out in 2026:
- Raising the Bar for Aid: The administration has proposed raising the "per capita" damage threshold for federal assistance to four times the current amount. This means a storm that used to qualify for federal millions might now be considered "too small" for D.C. to care about.
- Cutting "Woke" Grants: Programs like the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) grant have been on the chopping block. The administration labeled some of these programs "wasteful and woke," leading to a $646 million reduction in grant funding in the FY 2026 budget.
- Workforce Shrinkage: FEMA has seen a massive "brain drain." Reports indicate the agency has shrunk from 26,000 employees to roughly 18,000 as staff depart amid the uncertainty.
- The "President’s Office" Model: Trump suggested that instead of a giant agency, disaster money should come directly from the President’s office. This would give him more direct control over where the cash goes, though critics say that’s a recipe for political favoritism.
The Real-World Friction
In late 2025, a federal judge actually blocked the administration from scrapping certain disaster-mitigation programs, calling the move "unlawful." But that hasn't stopped the slowdown. States like Virginia and Iowa are already looking at potential losses of hundreds of millions of dollars in future reimbursements.
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Why Experts Are Worried
If you talk to emergency management veterans, they’re terrified. The common refrain is that states simply don't have the cash. Mississippi and Alabama, for example, don't have the tax base to rebuild an entire coastal city after a Category 5 hurricane.
Michael Coen, a former FEMA chief of staff, pointed out that having 50 different versions of FEMA is way more expensive than having one central hub. It's about "economies of scale." When a disaster happens, you need a massive surge of people, generators, and water. A single state usually can't keep that kind of inventory sitting in a warehouse just in case.
There’s also the issue of the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF). The administration has been accused of "quietly curbing" the flow of this money to stretch it out. Local governments that fronted the cash for debris removal are now waiting years—literally years—to get paid back. This leaves local towns in a massive budget hole.
Is FEMA Truly Broken?
To be fair, even Democrats and career officials admit FEMA isn't perfect. It is bureaucratic. It is slow. After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the world saw how badly the agency could fail.
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Trump’s Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, has been one of the loudest voices saying the agency is "fundamentally broken." She’s pushed the narrative that FEMA was "politicized" under the previous administration, claiming aid was withheld from rural, Republican areas—a claim that current FEMA leadership and many independent fact-checkers have disputed as dangerous misinformation.
Regardless of who is right, the trust is gone. When the agency's own leadership is talking about "abolishing" it, the people on the front lines—the firefighters and local EMA directors—start to panic.
What This Means for You
If you live in a disaster-prone area—whether that’s the "Tornado Alley" of the Midwest or the Gulf Coast—the rules of the game are changing. You can no longer assume that a "Major Disaster Declaration" is a given.
Here is what you should actually do given this shift:
- Check Your State’s "Rainy Day" Fund: Look up your state’s emergency management budget. If your state is one of the ones Trump mentioned (like Oklahoma or Florida), they are under intense pressure to self-fund their next disaster.
- Audit Your Insurance: With federal "Individual Assistance" grants (the $750 or $2,000 checks people get for immediate needs) becoming more uncertain, private insurance is your only real safety net. Don't wait for a federal bailout that might not come.
- Local Mutual Aid: Communities are starting to form their own "mutual aid agreements" with neighboring towns. If the feds aren't coming, the next county over is your best bet for a fire truck or a water pallet.
The reality of 2026 is that the "safety net" is being pulled back. Whether you think Trump says FEMA only complicates things because he’s a visionary reformer or because he’s dismantling a life-saving system, the result is the same: the burden of recovery is moving closer to your front door. States are now in a race to prove they can handle the "worst day" without a call to Washington. Whether they can actually pull it off remains the biggest question of this administration.
Actionable Insight: If you're a homeowner or small business owner, download your state's specific "Disaster Preparedness Guide" today. Federal resources are being diverted toward "life-saving only" missions, meaning long-term rebuilding costs will likely fall on state grants and private insurance. Verify your "Loss of Use" coverage on your property policy to ensure you have housing funds if a federal declaration is denied.