President Donald Trump told North Carolinians that he'll withhold FEMA funding needed for hurricane relief unless the candidate he endorsed wins the midterms.
On Wednesday, Trump showed up in Gastonia, North Carolina, to stump for GOP Senate nominee Michael Whatley, and he told the voters at the rally that Whatley had to win if the state were to receive any additional FEMA funding as the state continues to recover from Hurricane Helene.
"We spent more than $2 billion in FEMA funding, and you know you're waiting for some additional money," Trump reminded his rally attendees. "I'm going to get that to you, Michael. Now, if Michael loses, I'm not sending it."
The audience reacted with a mixture of laughs and groans while online commentators were outraged.
"This is SICK!" wrote Gavin Newsom from his personal account. "Donald Trump is threatening to hold disaster relief hostage based on how people vote. This UN-AMERICAN PRESIDENCY ENDS on November 3rd."
"Good grief," reacted Amanda Carpenter, the writer and editor of Protect Democracy.
"What an awful thing to say," exclaimed national opinion columnist Sophia Nelson. "Good grief!"
Author Mary Pezzulo lamented, "At this point, saying 'this is illegal' about the things Trump does is kind of like saying 'this is a rather unpleasant odor' about a skunk who just got run over by a garbage truck outside the sardine cannery."
Hurricane Helene tore through western North Carolina in September 2024. The disaster killed at least 107 people in the state and caused an estimated $60 billion in damage, according to The Center Square and Weather.com. Communities there are still waiting on billions in promised aid, Weather.com noted.
Trump has repeatedly targeted the agency he now controls. During the first trip of his second term, a January 2025 visit to Asheville, he floated "getting rid" of FEMA, calling it "a very big disappointment" that was "very bureaucratic" and "very slow," according to PBS NewsHour. He tapped Whatley, who later said he'd personally urged the president to abolish the agency, to help lead the recovery, according to local reporting.