Last Night Trump Joked Again About Politicizing Disaster Aid in North Carolina and Keeping Aid from Families Who Need It

Gastonia, NC  –  Last night President Trump stumped for GOP Senate Candidate Michael Whatley, joking that if Whatley didn’t win the Senate race he would hold out on giving more FEMA funding to North Carolina. That “joke” was not just lighthearted banter, but a dangerous continuation of how the Trump administration has repeatedly politicized disaster aid and made it harder for North Carolina families to rebuild after Hurricane Helene.  

Here’s how Trump and Whatley have politicized critical disaster aid in North Carolina and made it more expensive for communities to recover:

• Western NC residents say Whatley has fallen short. Trump’s appointed hurricane recovery “czar” has left Western NC residents still waiting for support. Residents have seen a federal gridlock stalling hurricane recovery. Some residents even called for him to be removed from the FEMA Review Council.
  
• North Carolina has received federal aid covering less than 16% of total damages from Hurricane Helene. Helene left behind an estimated $60 billion in damage and has been the costliest natural disaster in North Carolina history. As of March 2026, it was three times harder for Democratic-led states to be approved for federal disaster aid. Trump approved just 23% of disaster aid requests from Democratic-led states, compared to 89% for Republican-led states.
  
• The FEMA Review Council, where Whatley is the co-chair of the Final Report Subcommittee, recommended further reducing aid to states. The FEMA Review Council report called for reducing the federal cost share for emergency declarations, which North Carolina said would have left state and local governments on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars in additional costs if it had been in place during Hurricane Helene.
  

• Trump’s tariffs were expected to increase annual home insurance costs in North Carolina by $103. The National Association of Home Builders estimates a cost increase of $10,900 per home due to tariffs on construction materials, and tariffs were also expected to slow down disaster recovery efforts and make them more expensive.
  
• Trump’s tariffs have cost the average American household more than $1,700 and are expected to cost an additional $820 in 2026 alone.

###