Reacting to comments Donald Trump made while doing photo-ops in hurricane-ravaged North Carolina on Friday, where he repeatedly claimed he would give consideration to shutting down the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the two hosts of MSNBC's "The Weekend" stated MAGA voters may one day regret voting for him.
“I think we’re going to recommend that FEMA go away,” the president proposed while suggesting he would like states to take over FEMA's responsibilities individually.
Noting that it has lately been red states that have been hit by natural disasters, including the wide swath of conservative states that reside in the so-called "tornado alley," hosts Symone Sanders Townsend and Michael Steele suggested voters in those states who approve of Trump won't like what comes next if he makes good on his promise.
After pointing out Congress would have to be involved in the dismantling if Trump is serious, Steele explained, "You know, Louisiana, North Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, all those states ––."
"Florida," co-host Sanders Townsend interrupted.
"All of those states." Steele agreed. "Then we get into tornado alley. Those states: Ohio, Iowa ––so y'all going to be prepared to just have the federal government just go away in terms of its response and leave it to you? I just want to know how they're going to pay for it."
"How are they going to pay for it?" his co-host repeated. "Well, you know, Michael, you know, they say this is what this is what they voted for. "
"This is what they voted for," repeated her colleague.
After playing clips of Trump telling the World Economic Forum he's going to ask Saudi Arabia and OPEC to bring down the cost of oil — which he said would end the Russian invasion of Ukraine — and would then demand that interest rates drop "immediately."
The panel of guests chuckled after the supercut, with Rampell repeating her assertion that while Trump may have been elected with a mandate to bring down prices, he doesn't have a mechanism to do so.
"As I have said many times, presidents do not actually have the ability to turn the dial up or down on prices. And in fact, Trump doesn't even have concepts of a plan for dealing with inflation," she said, noting he signed an executive order to have his Cabinet draft such plans.
Rampell said even if OPEC pumps more oil, that won't address stubbornly high inflation.
"To the extent that the American public voted for him to deal with prices, I have seen nothing in the agenda so far that would achieve that goal," she said.
Her points met immediate resistance from Trump ally T.W. Arrighi, who jumped in to declare that lower gas prices will bring down costs.
"Fuel costs impact everything up and down the supply chain," he said.
But as he insisted gas prices are tied to the costs of goods and services, Rampell butted in.
"Gas has come down a lot in the past year," she pushed back.
Indeed, gas prices hit a three-year low last month, with a national average reaching $3.01 per gallon.
But Arrighi insisted gas prices will fall even further if Saudi Arabia "plays ball," which they showed during his first term. As he tried to point to the country's newly announced $600 billion investment in the United States, Rampell again interrupted.
"That's about as much as they committed to buy weapons under Biden," she countered.
The two butted heads again as Arrighi pointed out Trump wants to drill for oil, which Republicans believe will help bring down prices.
"Oil production is already at an all-time high. We are producing more crude oil in this country than any country has in history, ever," Rampell hit back. "The problem is not oil supply. That's not the main issue that consumers are facing."
The main issue, she said, is other categories of goods and services that have high prices that Trump isn't addressing — and may have even undermined by undoing the Biden administration's cap on out-of-pocket costs on prescription drugs.
Later in the discussion, Arrighi pointed to other campaign promises of Trump's that they believe will alleviate costs, including getting more people back to work. Rampell again interjected, noting Trump has threatened to deport a large number of undocumented immigrants — and "de-document" people.
"He is cutting off legal pathways to come here," she said, sharing a new report that Trump is ending a parole program that would allow Ukrainians to come to the country.
At this juncture, another Republican jumped in to assist: Madison Gesiotto, national spokesperson for the Republican National Committee.
Gesiotto cut off Rampell to note that most Americans are in favor of deporting undocumented immigrants, only to have Rampell return the favor.
"These are legal immigrants!" Rampell retorted.
"No-no. Why don't you let me finish talking, Catherine," Gesiotto shot back.
"Because you interrupted me," Rampell parried.
"And I'm going to finish what I had to say," Gesiotto replied, adding that Americans also support less immigration as a whole. "Which was something surprising to many people as that poll came out."
Rampell butted in again, chiming in: "This is a bait and switch."
"This is the reality. You just don't want to hear it," Gesiotto fired back.
When President Donald Trump held an event in California to address the catastrophic wildfires that destroyed historic neighborhoods in Los Angeles, Rep. Brad Sherman called him out over his party's repeated threats to withhold or condition disaster relief.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has repeatedly said he would like Congress to make certain requirements for California to change its disaster preparedness programs as a condition of receiving emergency aid, even though FEMA already imposes extensive regulations on hazard mitigation for non-emergency aid, and even though Congress hasn't put ad hoc conditions on emergency aid over decades of various disasters across the country.
Sherman made this point to Trump's face during the event — telling him that it was obvious California was being singled out because of the state's liberal politics.
"I would never turn to somebody from Louisiana and say, 'You keep living on your cousins's couch until Louisiana agrees with me on a woman's right to choose,'" said Sherman.
During the discussion, Trump also bragged about the fact he had even deigned to visit in the first place. "Most presidents wouldn't be here, certainly not after three days," said Trump.
An advisor to President Donald Trump suggested Friday that Republicans in Congress go beyond just allowing Trump to run for a third term — they ought to chisel his mug into Mount Rushmore.
Longtime Trump advisor Corey Lewandowski appeared on the right-wing Benny Johnson Show and asked his thoughts on a proposal this week from Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) to allow Trump to run again.
Lewandowski, a MAGA loyalist, praised Ogles for the move and called him a "really smart guy."
"I like that piece of legislation. I don't know if it's constitutional," he said.
"Some really smart congressman should go and say, 'Donald Trump's face on Mount Rushmore. Ok? What are we waiting on? We can rename the Ronald Reagan Airport. It used to be [Washington] National Airport, now it's Ronald Reagan. I love Reagan. Who puts Donald Trump's face on Mt. Rushmore? We get the votes in the House, we get the votes in the Senate. I know a guy's going to sign it named Donald John Trump. Let's get it done to memorialize what this man's been able to achieve for this country," he said.
When Johnson superimposed a photo of Trump's face over an empty spot on the landmark, Lewandowski said it looked "meant to be."
"It's almost there. Like if you look, there's a little hair right there on the top. If you look closely. We could expedite this thing. We're spending all this friggin' money to the Ukraine. How about we spend some of it on our own country? How much does it cost to get a couple guys to go chisel something?" he said. "We have this great artist. Bang this thing out in like a couple weeks."
But Lewandowski's idea is apparently already in motion.
Trump indicated in 2020 that it'd be a "good idea" to have his face on Mount Rushmore, but the idea has been met with questions about whether the structure can withstand another face.
"The rock that surrounds the sculpted faces is not suitable for additional carving. When Gutzon Borglum, the sculptor of Mount Rushmore died in 1941, his son Lincoln Borglum closed down the project and stated that no more carvable rock existed," said Maureen McGee-Ballinger.
Watch the clip below or at this link.
🚨Corey Lewandowski calls for President Trump’s face to be put on Mount Rushmore:
“What are we waiting on? Donald Trump's face should be on Mt. Rushmore. We got the votes. Trump’s gonna sign it. Let's get it done. To memorialize what this man's achieved for this country.” pic.twitter.com/0fbIC2OpYf — Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) January 24, 2025
Trump landed shortly after 6 p.m. Eastern Time. Video on CNN showed Newsom walking up to the stairs on the tarmac and shaking the president's hand as the two shared a one-armed hug. As Newsom and Trump shared a brief exchange — not caught on microphone — video appeared to show the men sharing a political power shake, both tugging each other's arm.
The duo continued their brief exchange and walked over to waiting reporters.
Trump told reporters that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is working with California.
"I think you're going to see some very big progress," he said. "They left him high and dry. And now we're going to be taking a little tour with some of the people from the area."
Trump thanked Newsom — whom he has derided for years as "Newscum" — and shook the governor's hand a second time.
"We want to get it fixed. We want to get the problem fixed," Trump added. "There'll be some ways. It's got you hit by a bomb, right?"
"Yeah," Newsom agreed.
"It's like he got hit by a bomb," Trump repeated.
Newsom thanked Trump for visiting and said it "means a great deal."
"Not just the folks in Palisades, the folks in Altadena that were devastated. We're going to need your support. We're going to need your help. You were there for us during Covid — I don't forget that. And I have all the expectations that we're going to be able to work together to get this speedy recovery," he said.
"We will. We're going to get it done. A tremendous number of lives have been affected. A lot of real estate has been affected. Nobody has ever probably seen anything like this, you can almost say since the Second World War. When you think of it. Nothing like this has happened. And we're going to get it fixed and we're going to get it permanently fixed so it can't happen again."
When asked how the two plan to work together despite fierce rhetoric, Trump said they have to work together.
"He's the governor of this state," said Trump. "And we're going to get it completed. They're going to need a lot of federal help. Unless you don't need any?"
"We're going to need a lot of federal help," Newsom replied, giving Trump an affectionate pat on the shoulder.
When asked about Trump's threat to withhold aid unless the state implements voter ID laws, Newsom replied: "I have all the confidence in the world we're going to work that out."
She urged Democrats to talk to people directly and said they need to "walk the walk and talk the talk."
"There is an insane amount of hypocrisy," she said. "And the hypocrisy is what gets exploited to use the cynicism. Wherever there's a hypocritical window — for example, I think one of the biggest examples of this is insider trading in Congress."
Stewart cheered as he exclaimed, "Yes! It is so crazy!"
"It's so crazy!" Ocasio-Cortez replied with a wide grin. "People think that everyday people are stupid. I'm like, 'Do you all really think that people don't see this s---?"
Stewart suggested lawmakers sit on committees and receive information about new drugs, contracts, and more, prompting them to call a stockbroker who changes their investments, and their portfolio "swells."
"It explodes!" Ocasio-Cortez said. "And you're doing this on public trust, on like taxpayer-financed public, you know, facilities."
"You're regulating the market that you're trading on," Stewart railed. "You run the casino."
"And then we're supposed to act like money doesn't — only affects Republicans? Give me a f---ing break."
Ocasio-Cortez slammed her colleagues and said they "don't understand that the insider trading that happens in Congress explodes the cynicism that fuels the right."
"It doesn't benefit us, it benefits the Republicans," she railed. "They make no bones about what class they're here to serve. In fact, Republicans are far more honest in this respect sometimes, which is that they're here to serve the billionaire class and they make decisions very publicly to serve that billionaire class."
In the Los Angeles area, fires have scorched about 45 square miles. At least 28 people have died. Meanwhile, Hurricane Helene's damage in North Carolina has been estimated at $59.6 billion. At least 104 people died.
Trump criticized the disaster agency for being too slow and bureaucratic. He has floated letting states handle disasters.
After his speech, CNN's Daniel Dale acknowledged Trump is "totally entitled" to criticize FEMA, and even conceded he's delivered "accurate criticism" of FEMA.
"But he's also said a lot of things about FEMA and the general federal response to Helene that are just wrong," said Dale.
Dale took particular issue with Trump's claims that he said could "dissuade" Americans in need of federal disaster assistance from applying.
"For instance, Trump said this month FEMA is out of money. If you're thinking of applying for FEMA aid, please know that is not even close to true," he said.
FEMA had $27 billion in its disaster relief coffers as of Jan. 8, Dale noted.
"Similarly, the president has said FEMA has no money for North Carolina because it took all that money and gave it to illegal immigrants," said Dale. "That did not happen."
Congress gave FEMA tens of billions of dollars last year for disaster relief. Separately, it gave a "much smaller amount" — $650 million — to help state and local governments shelter undocumented migrants.
"It didn't divert money to shelter migrants — those are two separate pots of funds," said Dale.
Trump has also claimed that hurricane victims can only get $750 in federal aid. But that figure was only an initial emergency assistance for food water and other pressing needs.
"They can also apply for tens of thousands in additional federal assistance, including up to $42,500 each for home repairs," said Dale. "And Jake, I think this political claim is important as the president muses as you say about abolishing FEMA."
Trump has said FEMA hasn't helped North Carolina at all and has been completely absent. While it's true some mountain communities didn't see federal help for days and have faced slow housing assistance or inadequate, FEMA has "certainly been on the ground in the state," Dale said.
FEMA has doled out more than $316 million in cash in addition to another $300 million given to governments for infrastructure repairs and debris cleanup.
"I'm not up here saying FEMA or the Biden administration was perfect responding to this storm or anything else, and some of what President Trump claimed did prove to have a valid basis," said Dale, calling out Trump's claim the agency has political bias. "It later emerged at least one Florida FEMA employee had directed relief teams not to approach homes with pro-Trump signs, and then told CNN that skipping those homes is part of FEMA's avoidance and de-escalation guidance."
Regardless, Dale concluded, despite that valid claim, "he's gotten a lot of other stuff wrong on the subject of FEMA and federal assistance."
During a call-in appearance on CNN, former DC Metropolitan Police officer Michael Fanone repeatedly distressed host Pamela Brown by peppering his attack on Donald Trump and the Jan. 6 rioters with obscenities the cable network was not prepared to bleep out.
After appearing twice on MSNBC earlier in the day to address Trump's decision to pardon close to 1,500 rioters regardless of whether they physically attacked Capitol cops as they did him, which led to a heart attack and his subsequent retirement, Fanone let loose on CNN.
After playing audio of released Oath Keeper's founder Stewart Rhodes telling reporters he had "No regrets," and "We did the right thing," Brown asked her guest, "What do you say, Michael?"
"Yeah, I mean, this is what I would say to Stewart Rhodes: Go f––k yourself," he replied, which made Brown elevate in her seat.
"Okay. We didn't obviously get to bleep that word out" the stunned host stated as she looked off-camera. "But you, obviously, Michael, this is very personal to you."
Asked if he was getting any more threats, he replied, "You know, my mother has had her home swatted. She's a 76-year-old woman who lives alone, she has had bricks thrown at her house in the middle of the night. And just a few months ago, she was out raking the leaves in her front yard when an individual pulled up in a truck and threw a bag of s––t on her."
"What do you say to what Trump claims is the, you know, the election is a referendum on this, the country has moved on. They don't care. They elected me anyway. What do you say to that and to the Americans who just don't care? Go ahead," she pressed her guest.
"I absolutely agree with President Trump," he shot back. "I believe that the election was in part a referendum on January 6th and that most Americans, they don't care because the characteristics that many of us have come to associate with ourselves as Americans; things like honor courage, integrity are all bulls––t."
"They've been replaced by things like selfishness, self-centeredness and cowardice and that's how we came to have Donald Trump as our president," he added.
Appearing on MSNBC as Donald Trump was busy holding a press conference in North Carolina to talk about 4-month-old Hurricane Helene damage, a Democratic lawmaker expressed his disgust that the president made the appearance all about himself.
As Trump spoke and introduced pre-selected locals from Swannanoa, North Carolina who joined him in criticizing President Joe Biden and FEMA for the pace of ongoing recovery efforts, Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-PA) offered a counterpoint to host Andrea Mitchell.
"First, my heart breaks for that family who have been afflicted," he said. "I'm not sure using them as political props for an event for Donald Trump is really going to give them the help that they need."
Boyle then got into his central complaint about the newly-elected president who made multiple comments about abolishing FEMA on Friday .
"We're talking about natural disasters, this is no place for politics," he told the MSNBC host. "He shouldn't have the RNC head there, he shouldn't have the DNC head there. You should have the professionals who are working in these very difficult circumstances to deliver aid to people and help them rebuild their homes and their lives."
"Unfortunately, with Donald Trump, everything is about him," he pointed out. "Even when he started talking, the first thing he talked about was the fact he won North Carolina three times. Who cares?"
"This should be about the thousands of people who still need help," he added.
CNN's Jamie Gangel smacked president Donald Trump's decision to cancel security details for some of his former administration officials after they criticized him.
The newly inaugurated president revoked Secret Service protection for former national security adviser John Bolton, as well as former secretary of state Mike Pompeo and his former top aide Brian Hook, less than a day after returning to office, and the change went into effect hours after they were notified in spite of assassination threats against them.
"One of the shocking things, excuse me, is that he pulled the security for John Bolton and for former secretary of state Mike Pompeo," said Gangel, a senior correspondent for the network.
President Joe Biden offered them protection following a series of threats based in Iran as retaliation for a drone strike ordered by Trump that killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in January 2020, and Gangel noted the irony of the president's decision.
"Those two men needed that security because they carried out a Donald Trump order, which was an assassination hit on Soleimani, an Iranian," Gangel said. "That kind of security threat that doesn't go for the rest of your life, it is constantly looked at, reviewed, and it's clear that the FBI and other security agencies have felt these two men need it. I've spoken to high-ranking former Trump officials who say that this was petty, and that if something happens to these two men, it's on Trump."
President Donald Trump spoke to reporters during a visit to review hurricane damage in North Carolina, and CNN's Daniel Dale was ready with a fact check afterward.
The president met with reporters Friday morning in Fletcher, one of the areas devastated last fall by Hurricane Helene, and he floated the idea of eliminating the Federal Emergency Management Agency through executive order and making Canada the 51st state, and Dale lamented that he was providing false and misleading information during the ongoing disaster.
"The lies impact people's lives, they really do," Dale began. "So, again, people are entitled to criticize FEMA's response to Helene, the overall Biden administration's response, but the fact is that Trump has made numerous claims about FEMA and that federal response that are just not true. So, for example, he said in early January that FEMA is out of money – one of those lies that impacts people. It is not out of money. FEMA's disaster relief fund had $27 billion in it as of two weeks ago."
"He said repeatedly that FEMA had no money for North Carolina because it diverted all of the funding to illegal immigrants," Dale said. That did not happen. What actually happened was that Congress gave FEMA tens of billions for disaster relief and a much smaller pot of money, a separate pot of money, about $650 million, for a program to help communities around the country shelter migrants. Two separate programs Congress funded separately, there wasn't like some sort of improper diversion."
"The president has said over and over that North Carolina residents who lost their homes only got $750 in aid, while foreign countries got billions," Dale continued. "In fact, that $750 was merely initial emergency assistance for immediate pressing needs of food, water, baby formula. Those people are also eligible for tens of thousands in additional assistance, including, for example, up to $42,500 each for home repairs, and I think the biggest one, the president has said over and over and over that FEMA just hasn't helped North Carolina at all, has been completely absent. That is not true."
"You can argue they didn't help fast enough in some communities, that aid has been too, too slow in being distributed, but they've been there," he added. "FEMA has deployed more than 1,700 employees to North Carolina. Former governor Roy Cooper said it was more than 8,500 federal personnel total FEMA had provided as of Inauguration Day. More than $316 million in cash grants to North Carolina, and, in addition, more than $300 million extra to North Carolina governments for infrastructure repairs and debris cleanup."
"So, again, yes – criticize away," Dale concluded. "But FEMA has responded in the state."
President Donald Trump made an odd remark about Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) looking as if he'd been beaten with a baseball bat.
The president spoke to reporters Friday morning in Fletcher, North Carolina, where he was touring areas devastated by Hurricane Helene last fall, and he floated the idea of eliminating the Federal Emergency Management Agency through executive order, making Canada the 51st state and wondering whether Schiff – one of his most prominent enemies – had been victimized by violence.
"I don't know, I was told that Schiff was going to travel with us to California," Trump said. "I wasn't thrilled, to be honest with you, and I saw him last night on television. It looks like he got hit with a baseball bat or something. What happened to him? Something happened to him. It was, it looked like he got hit. It looked like he got beat around, but, uh, I'll ask Karoline [Leavitt] to find out what happened to him. No, if he wanted to come out, I would have done that, but I don't know. Somebody said that he wanted to come on the plane, but I think he's staying back for the [Senate] votes. There's some pretty good votes going on."
He was then asked to comment on his intention to eliminate FEMA, which he said wasn't as effective as relief that could be provided by individual states.
"Well we're looking here here you're talking about to start," Trump said. "We're going to start immediately, timeline, and to finish, it's going to be a period of time. You know, people are also rebuilding their houses. How long does it take to build a house, right. It takes the time, and I want them to build houses bigger, better, nicer than they had before so they can have at least they get something out of this disaster. This was a real disaster. No timeline will be fast in terms of infrastructure, I think very fast."
Trump then commented on his suggestion that Canada should become part of the U.S., which he believes is “losing $200 billion a year” to its northern neighbor.
"I asked him what would happen if we didn't do that, if we didn't subsidize Canada?" Trump said, recounting a purported conversation with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. "He said, 'We'd be a failed nation,' and I said, 'Then you should be a state, because why are we paying all of that money to Canada when, you know, we could use it ourselves, right?' So we take care of their military. You know, we ordered, we're going to order about 40 Coast Guard, big icebreakers, big ones, and all of a sudden Canada wants a piece of the deal. They say, 'Why are we doing that?' I mean, I like doing that if they're a state, but I don't like doing that if they're a nation. Also, they've been very nasty to us on trade. Historically, Canada has been very, very bad to us, very unfair to us on trade, so we'll see how it all works out.
"I would love to see Canada be the 51st state," Trump added. "The Canadian citizens, if that happened, would get a very big tax cut, a tremendous tax cut because they're very highly taxed, and you wouldn't have to worry about military. You wouldn't have to worry about many of the things. You'd have better health coverage, you'd have much better health coverage, so I think the people of Canada would like it, you know, if it's explained. But just to start off, they'd have a very, they'd have a massive tax cut and they'd have a lot more business because then we'd let business go to Canada routinely and there'd be no tariffs. You know, if we did that, there'd be no tariffs."
Appearing on MSNBC with host Ana Cabrera on Friday morning a former senior GOP congressional adviser stated the Senate Republicans are expressing dismay that the hearing on secretary defense nominee Pete Hegseth is being rushed and it could lead to a disaster.
Speaking with the host hours before the whole Senate will vote on the embattled former Fox News personality's future in Donald Trump's Cabinet will be decided, Rina Shah explained that there is a feeling that the proceedings should be slowed down.
"I'm hearing right now from Republicans who feel sort of like this is not the pace at which they feel comfortable with from the Senate side," she explained. "You do see people who want to exhibit that caution, that restraint when going for some nominee that has a complex background like Hegseth."
"You know, complex is putting it as an understatement here," she elaborated. "It seems like there's been a steady drip-drop of information. And of course, his attorneys will say, and anyone defending him will say, people in his past have an axe to grind but I think it's more problematic than that when we're asking this man to come from the private life to a public life and lead the greatest military in the world."
"We've got to make sure he's a man of great character and integrity, but also doesn't have these kind of modern day issues that could seep into leadership and change military culture," she continued. "So that is, again, what's being whispered about right now."
